Emerging firm Venn Growth hires Alder Bay’s Pollard as managing partner

Venn Growth Partners, which is preparing to unveil a debut growth equity fund, brought on a new managing partner, two people with knowledge of the matter told Buyouts.

Venn Growth hired Cameron Pollard, a founding partner and principal of Alder Bay Equity Partners, the people said. Pollard worked for more than five years at Alder Bay, an affiliate of Armstrong Group, a family office. Peter Armstrong, the family office’s executive chairman, is an Alder Bay director.

Since April, Pollard’s duties have included leading Canadian Alliance Terminals, a third-party logistics provider backed by Alder Bay, according to his LinkedIn profile. Alder Bay invested in the business in 2016.

Pollard is transitioning from his existing responsibilities to a full-time role at Venn Growth, the sources said.

Prior to joining Alder Bay in 2015, Pollard was a senior associate with Sequoia Mergers & Acquisitions and an associate with Lions Capital Corp.

Pollard’s hire brings Venn Growth’s managing partners to three. The others are Jon McCarthy and Chris Reynolds, who launched the firm earlier in 2020. McCarthy was previously a managing director with OMERS Private Equity, Buyouts reported in July, while Reynolds was an associate partner with McKinsey & Company.

Venn Growth was created to be an operationally focused investor in growing lower mid-market companies. The Toronto firm will acquire majority or minority stakes in businesses with revenue of $10 million to $100 million in North America’s consumer, education and healthcare services sectors. Its first pre-fund investment was Higher Ground, a US early childhood education management provider.

Pollard’s hire caps a recent recruitment spree by Venn Growth. It also added three founding partners: John Crean, formerly a Scotiabank investment banker; Tim McGuire, Mobile Klinik’s CEO; and Ravi Thakran, the former chairman of L Catterton Asia. Crean will work full-time, while McGuire and Thakran will contribute on a part-time basis, Buyouts reported in August.

Venn Growth also brought on Serena Lefort, previously an OMERS business and financial operations executive, for an undisclosed role. In addition, it hired former McKinsey consultant Aqsa Mian as a vice president.

Venn Growth is in talks with family offices, high-net-worth investors and institutions about an inaugural offering, which is targeted to raise $300 million. It will begin marketing later this year, Buyouts reported, and is expected to reach an initial close in the first quarter of 2021.

Venn Growth declined to provide a comment on this story.

Action item: Learn more about Venn Growth Partners here.