Q&A with Aaron Hoffman, senior analyst, Intact Ventures
Justin Smith-Lorenzetti, investment director of Intact Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Canada-based insurance provider Intact Financial, said: “Since joining our team in 2019, Aaron hit the ground running, having sourced and closed three deals for us in his first 12 months at the firm. At any given moment, he is usually working on a handful of new transactions while also owning our portfolio monitoring function. He was also promoted just 10 months into joining, something that usually takes closer to two years.”
1. First, just give us a quick overview of who you work for, what you do, and how long you have been doing it.
I have been a senior analyst at Intact Ventures for the past year. I invest in series A and B-stage companies globally, and my focus areas include mobility, data and artificial intelligence, insurtech and fintech, and sharing.
2. What attracted you to CVC?
I have always been interested in both technology and investing and was drawn to Intact Ventures due to the early stage of the fund and small team size. Intact Ventures had deployed $250m fund 1 and was building out the strategy of fund 2. I was interested in helping craft the fund 2 strategy and the breadth of the role given the fund size.
3. What have been your greatest successes at your unit?
Running a full deal process from start to finish: building thesis in the last-mile logistics space, sourcing an opportunity, closing investment, and joining the board as an observer.
4. What have been your biggest challenges?
Building out the reputation of the fund – we are still a relatively new fund building a name for ourselves. Companies we approach often have not heard of our venture fund, and many outside of Canada have not heard of Intact Financial Corporation.
5. What is your main professional ambition for the future?
Continue identifying and supporting innovative founders and companies making the world a better place.
6. What do you think all CVCs could do better to make it a stronger industry?
Communicate better and acknowledge differences from traditional VCs. Many founders have a pre-conceived notion that all CVCs operate slowly and require partnerships with their parent companies to invest, which is not how all funds operate, our included.
7. And, finally, for colour, what did you do prior to CVC or in your spare time?
Intact Ventures hired me as an analyst in November 2019. I hold a bachelor of mathematics from the University of Waterloo, with a minor in combinatorics and optimisation, having graduated with distinction – dean’s honours list. Simultaneously, I completed a bachelor of business administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, with a major in finance and a minor in economics, also graduating with high distinction – dean’s honour roll.
I completed the following co-ops while in university at Influitive, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (private capital), BMO Capital Markets (investment banking), then worked a couple of years at BMO Capital Markets Investment Banking in the M&A group in Toronto.
My hobbies include travel, skiing and getting out to concerts.
