Rob Peets, director at Telus Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Canada-listed phone operator Telus, is leaving today.
He said: “After 15 years at TELUS and 10 at Ventures, it is time for a change.”
Peets has managed Telus’ $400m investment portfolio and led more than 50 transactions in venture-backed companies; deploying over $150m in investment capital in Canada, US, UK, Israel, China and Australia.
In addition, he has been board representative to more than 20 companies and championed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) certification to become the first corporate VC in North America to achieve Diversity VC Level II Standard.
Peets departure follows a restructuring at Telus Ventures after the departure of head Rich Osborn last year.
Mario Mele, vice-president for corporate strategy and planning at Telus, took over its ventures unit, and in its annual review said: “Telus Ventures [was] recognised as one of Canada’s most active VCs with more than 100 investments in market-transforming companies.”
In 2021, Telus Ventures closed 35 transactions, including adding 16 new portfolio companies, and invested C$116m across digital health, agriculture technology, internet of things (IoT) platforms, and connected consumer solutions.
Picture of Peets from LinkedIn
