Relay Welcomes Geoff Beattie as Chairman | Relay Ventures

Today we are excited to announce that Geoff Beattie is joining our firm as Chairman.

Geoff is the former CEO of The Woodbridge Company, a privately held investment holding company for the Thomson family of Canada, where he served as president from 1998 through December 2012.? A well respected and experienced corporate director, Geoff has been a long-time advisor to Relay and was instrumental in the launch of our first mobile fund in 2008. Geoff currently serves on the boards of General Electric Company, Royal Bank of Canada, and? Maple Leaf Foods Inc. and is a trustee of the University Health Network in Toronto.? Geoff received a law degree from the University of Western Ontario and served as a partner in the Toronto law firm Torys LLP.

As venture capital has become a global business, we are intent on establishing Relay as Canada?s pre-eminent venture capital firm by ensuring longevity and sustainability of our brand.? Borrowing a page from large US Private Equity firms, we are working to lay the foundation of a firm that is more than the sum of the partners around the table.? To be a globally competitive Canadian-based venture capital firm, we need to establish a base of knowledge, expertise and contacts that will allow us scale into a larger sustainable business amid global competition.

Geoff has a wealth of knowledge and experience in strategy, governance and business operations that we intend to leverage for each of our portfolio companies on a day-to-day basis.? With more than 40 mobile start-ups in our portfolio, including many fast growth category leaders that could become public companies, Geoff?s insight, advice and network will help us strengthen our value proposition to the later stage companies in our portfolio.

Since launching Relay Ventures we have accomplished several industry firsts:

- We were the first (and still only) early stage venture fund in North America to exclusively focus on mobile computing. We fundamentally believe that we have a differentiated value proposition because of our industry focus which results in unparalleled? networks, knowledge and connections that we leverage every day for our portfolio companies.

- We are the only Canadian VC fund with a full-time presence in Silicon Valley.? Our office on Sand Hill Road, in the heart of Silicon Valley, is important for a number of reasons. First, you cannot effectively invest in the Bay Area without being in the Bay Area. Second, when we invest in Canada or in New York or Boston, we do so by using the Valley as a barometer or benchmark.? In a global technology industry, it is no longer ?good enough? to simply invest in the best company in a region.? You have to invest in the best ?global? opportunity (the best team, technology, business model and market opportunity) regardless of geography.? And third, when we invest in the best companies, many of which are based in Canada, we leverage our Silicon Valley footprint to help these companies establish relationships with channel partners, investors and future acquirers through our extensive network.

Today?s appointment of Geoff Beattie as our Chairman is another first. ?As a Canadian-based firm, and as one of the most active VCs in the mobile computing sector, we cannot rest on our past success.? We need to constantly re-evaluate assumptions, aggressively pursue opportunities and re-define how we accomplish our objectives.? These are the marks of successful start-ups and they are how we run our business.? Having Geoff on board is a critical step in our plans to establish Relay Ventures as a globally competitive Canadian-based venture capital firm.

Please join us in welcoming Geoff.

Source: http://relayventures.com/blog/relay-welcomes-geoff-beattie-as-chairman/

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