OMERS Ventures veteran rejoins VC industry as Whitecap preps its sixth fund.
Damien Steel is rejoining the venture capital industry after leaving the top job at Montréal-based carbon capture startup Deep Sky earlier this year.
Steel, who was managing partner of Canadian pension giant OMERS Ventures before he joined Deep Sky in 2023, announced in a LinkedIn post that he will join Toronto-based Whitecap Venture Partners in the new year to help raise its sixth venture fund.
“After taking the past three months off to reflect on what matters most — both personally and professionally — I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be going back to my roots in venture investing,” Steel said.
Steel told BetaKit in a text exchange that he is joining Whitecap as a venture partner while raising Fund VI, of which he will become a partner. His appointment isn’t official until the first quarter of 2026 due to some conflicting personal travel commitments.
“Whitecap has proven they are able to deliver returns to their investors in good times and bad,” Steel told BetaKit. “The number of funds in Canada that can say this is extremely small.”
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He added that he has known the partners at Whitecap for over a decade, and that they were some of the first investors he called when he moved into the leadership role at Deep Sky.
Whitecap “aim[s] to be ‘the first call’ when times get tough,” Steel said. “This is exactly the type of investor I have always aspired to be.”
Steel stepped down as CEO of Deep Sky in May, “After much reflection and for personal reasons.” He was replaced by then-COO Alex Petre, but remained with the company as an advisor. Steel said he will continue to advise Deep Sky, a Whitecap portfolio company, in his new position.
“Their mission remains something I’m deeply passionate about,” Steel said.
Whitecap secured $140 million CAD for its fifth fund, which invests in early-stage software and medtech startups, in late 2021. Whitecap has invested in startups like Deep Sky, Felix Health, and Lyteflo.
In his own LinkedIn post, Whitecap partner Shayn Diamond said that the firm’s fifth fund is reaching the end of its commitment period. With that comes planning for next year’s Fund VI and, thus, Steel.
“Finding a partner isn’t easy, and after many years of co-investing with him at OMERS and then investing directly in Deep Sky, I can confidently say that he personifies all of the ethics, values, and successes that have been the hallmark at Whitecap for over 30 years,” Diamond said.
Whitecap has about one or two new investments left to complete with Fund V, Diamond told BetaKit in an email statement, at which point the Whitecap Fund VI fundraise will launch in late Q1 2026. Diamond added that Whitecap expects to target a fund size between $150 million and $200 million CAD.
Feature image courtesy OMERS Ventures.
