E388 | Avid Larizadeh Duggan, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP): Advantures in growth stage investing

In this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas talks with Avid Larizadeh Duggan, Senior Managing Director (EMEA) at Teachers' Venture Growth (TVG), the venture arm of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), headquartered in Toronto.TVG has €5.4B in assets under management, backing innovative companies like Canva, Databricks, DeepL, and SpaceX. Avid brings experience from her work leading investments for TVG, with a strong focus on scaling Series B+ technology companies globally.Together, we will explore the unique perspective OTPP brings as one of the world’s largest pension funds; we’ll. We will also dive into the challenges and opportunities of scaling global technology companies and the role of late-stage growth investing in driving the next wave of innovation.Go to eu.vc to read the core take-aways.Chapters:00:03 Meet Avid from Ontario Teachers Pension Plan 02:57 Ontario Teachers Pension Plan's Global Investment Strategy 07:55 Avid's Journey to Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan 12:20 The Role of Teachers in the Investment Ecosystem12:58 Advantages of Being Part of a Pension Plan15:58 Leveraging Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Network19:30 Focus on Growth Stage Investing21:57 Challenges and Opportunities in the European Growth Stage 28:32 Challenges of Scaling in Europe29:53 Talent Development Over Time31:58 Ecosystem Strength and Growth Stage Investment35:05 Manufacturing and Industry 4.036:00 Investing in Hardware and Software36:50 Thematic Investing and Industry 4.041:01 Navigating Hardware and Deep Tech Investments46:58 Advice for Founders and Investor Relationships52:36 Equity vs. Debt Financing at Growth Stage