Senia Rapisarda joined HarbourVest in 2014 to focus on partnership and direct co-investments in Canada and to expand HarbourVest's local presence in the market.
Senia Rapisarda was Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Investments at BDC from 2010 to 2013. In this role, Ms. Rapisarda led BDC's efforts to develop a healthy VC ecosystem in Canada through several key strategic initiatives and investments, investing over CAD 40M in first time funds and start-ups. Ms. Rapisarda has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and technology sectors, including roles as senior advisor at NUR Energie, a London-based investment fund specialized in renewable energy and Managing Director of the Technology Private Equity Team at Nomura International, managing over $300 million of investments in companies across Europe, Israel and the U.S. Prior to this Ms Rapisarda worked at Salomon Brothers in London and New York and at EBRD in London. She is also the founder of the Coller Institute at the London Business School - the first in Europe to provide a forum for the exchange of views and analysis of trends and policy issues in venture capital and private equity
Senia received a JD (summa cum laude) from LUISS University in Rome in 1987 and a Masters in Law and Economics (Fulbright Scholar) from Columbia University in 1989. An Italian citizen who holds permanent resident status in Canada, Senia speaks fluent Italian, French, and Spanish.
HarbourVest Canada Growth Fund, the last of the four private sector-led funds of funds to be established under the Federal Government's Venture Capital Action Plan, had its initial closing with $197.2 million in commitments—$131.5 million from institutional and corporate investors, alongside $65.7 million from the Government of Canada. The Fund will place an emphasis on investment opportunities in information and communications technologies, and will invest primarily in early-stage and mid-stage venture capital funds and directly in companies across Canada.
The Government of Canada has agreed to make a capital commitment of $1 for every $2 committed by private sector investors to the new HarboutVest Canada Growth Fund, up to a maximum of $125 million.
The initial partners in HarbourVest Canada Growth Fund are:
- BDC Capital Inc. (on behalf of the Government of Canada)
- BMO Financial Group
- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
- CIBC
- HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited
- Knight Therapeutics Inc.
- Laborers’ Pension Fund of Western Canada
- Royal Bank of Canada
- Scotiabank
- TD Bank Group
