On the TechTO stage ×2
Innovation in health tech amidst a global pandemic
Watch on YouTube ↗
Founding Initiatives & Persevering
Watch on YouTube ↗First seen on the TechTO stage in 2020. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about John ↗
In their words
COVID really hasn't changed anything per se. What it has done is amplified or accelerated underlying secular trends that should have been there for many, many years.
Don't chase the money, don't chase the glory or the fame, because it is a huge grind. Chase that problem, because it will get you around every obstacle that comes at you.
Having domestic sources of capital is absolutely critical, and in Canada we have more sources now than we've ever had in my entire 30-plus year career. However, the problem, and the reason why Maverix was born, was when you really wanted to hit a company with a tremendous amount of capital, it was really only foreign sources that could do it.
Around the web ×4
Quick answers
What is John Ruffolo known for?
Founding OMERS Ventures in 2011 and running it as CEO, where he backed Shopify, Wattpad, Hootsuite, Hopper and DuckDuckGo. He now runs Maverix Private Equity, and he co-founded the Council of Canadian Innovators with Jim Balsillie to give Canadian technology companies a collective lobbying voice.
What does John Ruffolo do now?
He is founder and managing partner of Maverix Private Equity in Toronto, which invests in technology-enabled growth companies across health, financial services, transportation and logistics, and retail. He is also vice-chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators and a frequent public voice on Canadian digital sovereignty and access to capital.
Why did John Ruffolo start Maverix?
He told the TechTO stage in August 2021 that domestic capital was the gap. When a company needed a very large cheque, only foreign sources could write it — and foreign capital, he argued, migrates the mind and management of a business to the jurisdiction where the money sits, so the eventual sale benefits foreigners rather than reinvesting in the Canadian ecosystem. Maverix was built to keep large cheques domestic.
How many times has John Ruffolo spoken at TechTO?
Twice. A July 2020 TechTO Health talk on innovation in health tech during the pandemic, and an August 2021 fireside at the TechTO Together patio dinner on perseverance — recorded less than a year after the cycling collision that, in his own words on that stage, left him without the use of his legs.