Nancy Harrison, Venture Partner, Amplitude Ventures, Wins 2024 Barry Gekiere Lifetime Legacy Award

July 29th, 2024

With a career spanning more than 30 years, Nancy Harrison is one of Canada’s most successful biotech investors and has had an enduring impact on the country’s growing life sciences industry. She got her start as an Associate at Ventures West after earning an undergraduate degree in geophysical engineering and going on to get her MBA. At the time, Ventures West was one of just a few venture capital firms in Canada and was looking to begin investing in life sciences.

“I had always been interested in life sciences, but didn’t have any expertise in it when hired,” recalls Harrision. “They took a chance on me and molded me into the investor I am today.” After getting the job, Harrision started taking biology courses and learning as much as she could about venture capital from Venture West’s partners. “After two years I had developed the firm’s life sciences strategy and we were ready to start investing.”

Harrison spent the next decade building out Ventures West’s life sciences practice and leading investments in dozens of companies. She eventually decided that she wanted to become an operator and went on to co-found MSI Methylation Sciences, a company that developed drugs for treating depression, and to work on a number of boards. Then in 2020 she got approached by Amplitude Ventures, a life sciences fund focused on precision health that had recently spun out of BDC. The Amplitude team convinced her to get back into investing and she soon joined the firm as a Venture Partner.

“Nancy represents everything that a VC should be,” says Amplitude Partner Jean-François Pariseau. “She’s an outstanding investor who treats every company she works with as if it were her own. She’s also very involved in the community, a fantastic mentor, and one of the most passionate and hard-working people I’ve ever met.”

Throughout her career, Harrison has always made time to share her experience and expertise with others across the life sciences and venture ecosystems. “I was fortunate enough to have great mentors early on in my career, so I think it’s important that I do the same for others. Plus, I want Canada to be the place where the world’s best life sciences companies get built. If mentoring can help make that possible in some small way, I’m more than happy to do so.”

Harrison is also heavily involved with a number of nonprofits, including Creative Destruction Lab,a global startup program for seed-stage, science-based companies. She previously also served as Chair of Life Sciences BC and as a Board Member of The Polygon Gallery, which is focused on providing a place for interacting with, and learning about, photographic art. In addition, she is an active volunteer at the national level as a board member of adMAre BioInnovations and Nimbus Discovery Parks, and as an advisor for I2 Fund Genome BC and BioteCanada. She also previously served as Co-Chair of the Federal Government COVID-19 Task Force.

“I’ve known Nancy for more than 25 years and have seen the impact she’s had on the industry,” says Pariseau. “She was one of the first people to get involved in our sector and has helped train many of those currently in managing roles at venture firms across the country. She helped shape me into the investor that I am today and encouraged me to co-found Amplitude.”

For her many contributions to venture capital, the life sciences industry, and her local community, Harrison has been named the winner of the 2023 Barry Gekiere Lifetime Legacy Award, sponsored by Apex Innovative Investments Ventures. “It’s a tremendous honor,” she says. “Barry was an incredible person who I knew very well from our time together at Ventures West. He played an important role in my life, so receiving this award means a lot to me.”

One of the things Harrison is most proud of is the impact her work has had. “I take a lot of pride in having worked with some of Canada’s most successful life sciences entrepreneurs and companies,” she says. “Some of them have brought drugs and devices to market that help people all over the world. It feels good knowing that I got to play a part in that and to work with so many great people and companies.”