Damian takes over from Omi Velasco, who grew the VCAA’s membership by 130 percent in just two years.
Alberta’s venture capital advocacy group has a new leader. The Venture Capital Association of Alberta (VCAA) has announced that George Damian has stepped into the role of executive director.
The transition, which took place on Oct. 25, saw Damian take over from Omi Velasco, who has served as executive director of VCAA since 2022. Velasco, who has also worked as a principal at early-stage venture firm Graphite Ventures since 2022, will supporting the transition over the next few months.
“[Velasco and the VCAA board] have already demonstrated how much can already be done in a short period of time. I think the only way is up.”
George Damian
Established in 2000, the VCAA is a non-profit, member-driven industry association for venture capital, private equity, and early-stage angel investors. In an interview with BetaKit, Velasco shared that when she was named executive director in 2022, the VCAA ran three initiatives annually and had under 30 members.
Over two years, she expanded those initiatives to more than 30 and more than doubled VCAA membership to 67 firms.
Following this growth, she and the board recognized the need for a full-time leader to guide the organization into its next chapter.
“As much as I love working every weekend and late nights, I knew that it wasn’t so much about me, but it was what was best for the organization,” Velasco said.
Notably, most of VCAA’s recent membership growth has come from venture firms outside the province that have a presence in the province, “meaning they have someone in Alberta, or they have invested, or want to invest in Alberta,” Velasco added.
The VCAA was established to address a gap in Alberta’s venture ecosystem. While national organizations like the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) advocate for the asset class across Canada, Alberta lacked a dedicated organization before the creation of the VCAA.
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The organization offers networking events, such as its annual Ski Conference at Lake Louise, as well as advocacy and professional development resources for its members. Unlike the CVCA, which also engages in reporting and data collection, the VCAA prioritizes local engagement, though it also co-founded the venture data platform Start Alberta, which received fresh federal funding two months ago.
The organization is also unique in that it hosts deal flow calls with its members, offering venture firms a chance to see which companies are raising. “To my knowledge, the CVCA doesn’t have something like this,” Velasco added. “In fact, every person that joins us on the calls from out of Alberta, they’re surprised that we share deal flow, in a good way.”
“It’s also very emblematic of the community that we have,” Damian added. “That is a very Alberta approach.”
A lifelong Albertan, Damian is no stranger to venture building and entrepreneurship. Before joining VCAA in October 2024, Damian led strategy and design studio press PLAY, helping tech startups build go-to-market strategies and secure early-stage funding. He also created programs for venture firms like The51 and Panache Ventures to connect with investors and startups.
A key part of Damian’s vision for the VCAA is education, an area well-supported by his experience as a sessional instructor in venture finance at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business.
“One of the things that we know … within the VC industry, is that there’s a lot of interest in it, but we lack the bench strength, we lack the depth of talent,” he said. “And so a lot of what we’re going to be doing is around professional development opportunities.”
Damian painted Alberta as an ecosystem in transition. Once fueled by oil and gas, the province is now transforming into a launchpad for emerging sectors like cleantech, AgTech, and FinTech, among other sectors.
According to the CVCA, Alberta startups raised a total of $383 million across 41 deals in the first half of this year, marking the first time the province has outpaced neighbouring British Columbia in terms of investment. “We’re looking to punch above our weight,” Damian said.
Alberta’s largest city, Calgary, also recently ranked among the top 50 emerging ecosystems globally in Startup Genome’s 2024 global startup ecosystem rankings amid the province’s economic transition away from energy.
“We really see technology being the catalyst for that change,” Damian added. “In order [for that to happen], you need the risk capital as provided by the venture community. So part of it also is making people aware of the role of venture just within their own community.”
As Damian begins to execute his vision for the VCAA, he said he’s fortunate to walk into an organization with “such a strong foundation,” crediting that largely to the work of Velasco and the board.
“They’ve already demonstrated how much can already be done in a short period of time,” he added. “I think the only way is up.”
Photos courtesy of the VCAA.