As an active investor, CPP Investments is leveraging its influence in the venture capital space to ensure it finds the right companies to invest in.

“I think founders know [what] they’re getting into with us,” said Jinzi Zheng, managing director of portfolio value creation at CPP Investments, during a panel discussion at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management last week. “We have a set of non-negotiables or guidelines [and] we’re upfront about that. . . . We do invest based on how much we believe in the founder.”

The investment organization invests in VC through a combination of funds and direct investments, but it doesn’t participate in early-stage VC investing as part of its deployment in the private sector, she said, noting companies that don’t meet comprehensive reporting requirements won’t get a deal.

Read: CPP Investments returns........

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