Chrissy Farr, OMERS Ventures, on Breaking News and Fueling Innovation

Digital Health Forward

In this episode, we meet Chrissy Farr, Principal at OMERS Ventures. Previously, she was a writer and frequent on-air contributor for CNBC, Fast Company and Reuters News, among other publications. She was raised in London, UK, and received degrees from University College London and Stanford University.

Over the last five years, OMERS Ventures has invested more than $340 million of capital in nearly 30 disruptive technology companies across North America, creating over 5,000 jobs, and attracting an additional $1.2 billion for portfolio companies. Their portfolio companies include: 360insights, AmpMe, Busbud, Citizen Hex, D2L, DCG, Fusebill, Hootsuite, Hopper, Interaxon, Jobber, Kaleo, Klipfolio, Klue, Leafsift, League, Mojix, Nudge, Ranovus, Rover, Shopify (IPO 2015 — NYSE & TSX: SHOP), Smile.io, Vidyard, Vision Critical, Wattpad, Wave.

Chrissy continues to write and share her perspectives here: https://ovsecondopinion.substack.com/

In this episode, Chrissy and I chat about:

• Chrissy’s personal story: from her time at Stanford to her experiences as a journalist and her love for research, learning and connecting with innovators
• Her approach to investing and thesis development, areas of digital health which are underserved/overlooked and opportunities in women’s health
• Digital health superlatives — Chrissy’s takes on the most disruptive healthcare company of the year, most interesting merger/acquisition, innovative early-stage start-up to follow, and her favorite news sources
• Predictions for digital health in 2022, reflections and words of wisdom