Mogo launches venture capital arm to manage growing portfolio
“Over the past several years Mogo has been able to leverage its leadership position in the Canadian fintech industry to make attractive strategic investments in a number of leading and emerging players in the broader crypto, Web3 and gaming ecosystems.”
Mogo has announced the launch of its venture capital arm to manage its existing investments in strategic partners and companies that support Mogo’s ecosystem.
Mogo Ventures will thus manage the existing 39% stake in Canadian crypto exchange Coinsquare as well as investments in other crypto and Web3 platforms such as Gemini, NFT Trader and Tetra Trust.
Investments also include gaming companies (Enthusiast Gaming and Eleven Gaming), Bitcoin, and Ether. In addition, Mogo Ventures will manage the the firm’s portfolio of legacy investments, including its investments in Hootsuite, Blue Ant Media and Alida, with a focus on monetizing these investments.
Led by Mogo President and CFO Greg Feller, Mogo Ventures has set up an investment committee chaired by Michael Wekerle, a seasoned investor and trader who was previously co-founder and partner of Griffiths McBurney & Partners’ sales and trading operations and Vice Chairman of Institutional Trading at GMP Securities.
The committee will include Mogo board member Liam Cheung, founder of growth venture capital firm Tactico and ex-CEO of Tactex Asset Management, as well as Mogo CIO Phil Barrar and Mogo CLO Alice Davidson.
Greg Feller, President & CFO at Mogo, said: “Over the past several years Mogo has been able to leverage its leadership position in the Canadian fintech industry to make attractive strategic investments in a number of leading and emerging players in the broader crypto, Web3 and gaming ecosystems, and today’s announcement highlights the significant value that these investments now represent for Mogo shareholders. As we continue to build out Canada’s leading financial technology and payments platform, we will continue to look for ways to participate in value creation opportunities with our partners that drive incremental shareholder value.”
Mogo is one of the top trading platforms in Canada, serving 1.9 million clients who can access the Mogo app for digital spending, the MogoTrade app for commission-free stock trading, and Moka, Mogo’s wholly-owned subsidiary bringing automated, fully-managed flat-fee investing to Canadians.
The firm acquired a stake in NFT Trader in early 2022. Mogo’s initial investment is through a convertible note which, if converted, will represent a 25% interest in NFT Trader. The company has an option to acquire an additional 25% interest through a secondary purchase of common shares from the founders within six months of the initial investment.
Mogo’s growing portfolio of digital assets and investments totaled approximately $150 million1 at the end of Q3 2021 (including Mogo’s book value of its investments in Coinsquare).
