Retail global e-commerce is in its infancy; throughout 2011, U.S. e-commerce penetration remained below 10% of total retail sales.

Sweet Tooth Inc., a Waterloo, Ontario-based developer of eCommerce customer loyalty software, has secured $2.25 million in funding. Of this, a total of $1.5 million in seed financing will come from OMERS Ventures, the Ontario government funded MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) and Points International. An additional $750,000 is forthcoming from other sources.

OMERS Ventures is pleased to announce its participation in Hyperdrive, a program to jump-start commercialization of high-potential tech startup companies.

On April 10, 2012, John Ruffolo, CEO of OMERS Ventures, spoke at the 2012 Private Equity Symposium: Opportunities & Challenges in Turbulent Times. Following this, he spoke with Michael Hainsworth on BNN’s “The Close”.

On April 3, 2012, John Ruffolo, CEO of OMERS Ventures, will be speaking on a panel entitled “Canadian PE – Opportunities and Guidelines for Investing North of the Border”.