Meet our Teachers' Venture Growth team
We take an agile and pioneering approach to help late stage venture companies grow.
-
Olivia Steedman
Olivia Steedman is Executive Managing Director and Global Head of Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG). Olivia joined Ontario Teachers' in 2002 as a founding member of the Infrastructure and Natural Resources group, where she served in various senior roles before standing up TVG in 2019.
Read their bio -
Avid Larizadeh Duggan
Avid Larizadeh Duggan, OBE, is a Senior Managing Director of Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). Avid has been active in the startup ecosystem as a developer, product manager, founder and investor for over 20 years. Prior to TVG, she was the COO of Kobalt Music Group.
Read their bio -
Rick Prostko
Rick Prostko leads the direct investing program for Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG) in North America. Rick joined TVG in 2021, bringing nearly two decades of direct venture capital and growth equity investment experience from institutional and strategic funds.
Read their bio -
Kelvin Yu
Kelvin Yu is based in Hong Kong and leads Teachers' Venture Growth's direct investing efforts in Asia-Pacific. Kelvin has more than 20 years of extensive experience in venture capital, private equity and investment banking.
Read their bio -
John-Christian (J.C.) Bourque
Based in Toronto, JC Bourque leads the Portfolio Development team in Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). Responsible for growth strategy, innovation and value creation, as well as portfolio construction, his team has a view to accelerate both TVG's individual investments and the TVG portfolio as a whole.
Read their bio -
Michael Powers
Michael Powers is based in Toronto and leads global fund relationships for Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). Since 2015, Michael has been involved in the origination, evaluation, execution and post-investment monitoring of venture capital and growth equity fund investments.
Read their bio
Meet our North America team
-
Rick Prostko
Rick Prostko leads the direct investing program for Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG) in North America. Rick joined TVG in 2021, bringing nearly two decades of direct venture capital and growth equity investment experience from institutional and strategic funds.
Read their bio -
Brad Leufkens
Brad Leufkens is a Director who helps lead the direct investing efforts of Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) across North America. Based in Toronto, he currently sits on the board or acts as an observer with Attabotics, ApplyBoard and Coda.
Read their bio -
Emma Norchet
Emma Norchet joined Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) as Principal in 2020. Based in San Francisco, she plays a key role in the execution of TVG’s direct investment strategy for North America, covering digital assets and enterprise investments, and currently acting as board observer for Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP).
Read their bio -
Jonathan Watkin
Jonathan Watkin joined Teachers Venture Growth (TVG) in 2020 and plays a key role in executing TVG's direct investment strategy in North America.
Read their bio -
Jean Yang
Jean Yang is an Investment Analyst in Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG) . Based in Toronto, she joined Ontario Teachers' in 2021 and focuses on direct investing in North America.
Read their bio
Meet our EMEA team
-
Avid Larizadeh Duggan
Avid Larizadeh Duggan, OBE, is a Senior Managing Director of Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). Avid has been active in the startup ecosystem as a developer, product manager, founder and investor for over 20 years. Prior to TVG, she was the COO of Kobalt Music Group.
Read their bio -
Zaya Kadyrova
Zaya Kadyrova is a Director at Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG), based in London, where she helps lead TVG's strategy for direct investments in high-growth European technology companies.
Read their bio -
Kieran Mahanty
Kieran Mahanty is a Director at Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG), based in London, where he invests in disruptive tech across all sectors of the economy.
Read their bio -
Ara Yeromian
Ara Yeromian joined Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG) as a Senior Principal in 2020. Currently based in London, his role involves enabling the execution of TVG's global strategy for direct investments.
Read their bio -
Alex Fuiks
Alex Fuiks joined Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) in 2022 as a Principal based in London, where she is responsible for enabling the execution of TVG’s direct investment strategy in Europe.
Read their bio -
Chalani Allen
Chalani Allen is an Investment Associate in Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG). She joined Ontario Teachers' in 2021 and is based in London. Her role involves enabling the execution of TVG's direct investment strategy in Europe.
Read their bio -
Amaury Vangrevelynghe
Amaury Vangrevelynghe is an Investment Associate in Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG), based in London.
Read their bio -
Francisco Vargas
Francisco Vargas is an Investment Associate in Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG), based in London.
Read their bio
Meet our Asia-Pacific team
-
Kelvin Yu
Kelvin Yu is based in Hong Kong and leads Teachers' Venture Growth's direct investing efforts in Asia-Pacific. Kelvin has more than 20 years of extensive experience in venture capital, private equity and investment banking.
Read their bio -
Catherine Qian
Catherine Qian joined Ontario Teachers' in 2017 and is currently a Principal in our Hong Kong office, where she focuses on direct investing for Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) in Asia.
Read their bio -
Geoffrey Liu
Geoffrey Liu is a Principal in the Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG), who focuses on direct investing in Asia-Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, he joined Ontario Teachers' in 2016 as a member of the Equities team. Geoffrey previously worked in hedge funds and Investment Banking and holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Read their bio -
Jing Lin
Jing Lin is a Principal in Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG) and is based in Hong Kong. Her role involves enabling the execution of TVG's direct investment strategy in Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers', Jing was a Vice President with Sailing Capital, where she led the execution of several growth and buyout investment transactions, globally and in China. Jing started her career in Investment Banking with J.P. Morgan, where she worked on a variety of M&A and capital market transactions. She holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Economics (summa cum laude) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Read their bio -
Peng Chen
Peng Chen is an Investment Associate in Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG). Based in Hong Kong, Peng joined Ontario Teachers' in 2021 and focuses on direct investing in Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers’, he was a Private Equity Associate at Asia Investment Capital, a Hong Kong-headquartered private equity backed by Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. Previously, he was an Investment Associate at Great Wall WL Ross (Invesco) and Investment Banking Associate at Deutsche Bank. Peng received a Bachelor of Business Administration with Distinction from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Read their bio -
Jane He
Jane He is an Investment Analyst in Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG). Based in Hong Kong, she started as an intern with TVG is 2021, and returned to Ontario Teachers' in 2022. She holds a B.Sc. in Quantitative Finance from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Read their bio -
Henry (Hui) Sun
Henry (Hui) Sun joined Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2022 and is currently based in the Hong Kong office.
Read their bio
Meet our Funds team
-
Michael Powers
Michael Powers is based in Toronto and leads global fund relationships for Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). Since 2015, Michael has been involved in the origination, evaluation, execution and post-investment monitoring of venture capital and growth equity fund investments.
Read their bio -
Vijay Jeevathilagan
Vijay Jeevathilagan is an Investment Associate in Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG). His role involves enabling the execution of TVG's global fund strategy. Prior to joining TVG in 2021, Vijay held various roles within Ontario Teachers’. He was part of the Private Asset Advisory team within the Risk department, where he was responsible for supporting risk analysis and reporting for private assets. He also worked in Financial Operations, where he was responsible for the trade execution, reporting, and valuation of OTPP's fund investments. Vijay holds a BBA from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Read their bio
Meet our Portfolio Development team
-
John-Christian (J.C.) Bourque
Based in Toronto, JC Bourque leads the Portfolio Development team in Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). Responsible for growth strategy, innovation and value creation, as well as portfolio construction, his team has a view to accelerate both TVG's individual investments and the TVG portfolio as a whole.
Read their bio -
Alice Xu
Alice Xu is a Principal in the Portfolio Development team of Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG). Based in Toronto, her role focuses on value creation, strategic relationships and reporting across the TVG portfolio. She joined Ontario Teachers' in 2013 and gained experience with the Operations, Capital Markets, Investor Relations and Infrastructures & Natural Resources teams before joining TVG in 2021. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers', Alice worked as an Analyst for CPPIB's Structured Products team. Alice holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and is a CFA and CBV charterholder.
Read their bio
Trusted. Respected. Reliable.
We're a value-added and active partner.