Profile

Like many South African boys, Anthony Lipschitz’s life revolved around sports. He grew up in Victory Park, a Jewish neighbourhood in Johannesburg whose claim to fame was that it had a Jewish day school. Though not especially devout, the neighbourhood had a strong traditional Jewish identity and Anthony fondly remembers walking across the street with his sister to attend Shul on holidays.

As a child, Anthony played sports with a diverse group of friends that included Jews, Italians, Greeks, and Lebanese. It was through sports, and especially soccer, that Anthony came to view athletic pursuits as “the ultimate equalizer” because it brought people together from different backgrounds. This was especially true as he advanced in his career as a soccer player and began playing in mixed-race teams.

As an adult, Anthony lived and studied in several countries including Israel and the United States. He studied Media Arts at Long Island University on a full soccer scholarship and co-founded a software business called Advanceware Solutions with a childhood friend, which they sold in 2006. Since then, Anthony has held leadership roles at numerous companies including Brightspark Ventures, iStopOver, a peer-to-peer vacation rentals marketplace that he co-founded, and StubHub, an eBay, Inc. company. Today, he is a Partner at FirePower Capital, where he runs their Private Equity practice.

In 2000, Anthony met his future wife, Lisa, whom he married in March 2003. In 2004,the couple moved to Toronto which is where Lisa grew up.  Anthony has two sons, both of whom attend Bialik Hebrew Day School.