Gavin Penny

Venture capital investment in Canadian technology companies continued at a strong pace in the first half of 2018, with $2.5 billion deployed to 282 financings, according to final data released by Thomson Reuters. In dollar terms, this marked the strongest first half in 17 years and the sixth time in the past seven quarters that companies raised more than $1 billion. Foreign funds played a key role in the first half as activity by Canadian funds slumped to 46 percent of total VC invested. Dealmaking in information technology sectors reflected $1.7 billion at the end of June, while investment in clean technology sectors hit $462 million. Life sciences sectors, however, saw a sixth consecutive quarter of declining activity, netting only $250 million.

Venture capital investment in Canadian technology companies continued at a strong pace in the first quarter of 2018, with $1.36 billion deployed to 128 financings, according to final data released by Thomson Reuters. In dollar terms, this represented the strongest quarter in 17 years and the fifth time in the past six quarters that Canadian companies raised more than $1 billion. Foreign investors played a key role in Q1 2018, accounting for over half of disbursements. Information technology investment stood at $780 million, the highest quarterly level since Q2 2001, while clean technology investment hit $376 million, more than doubling the prior record set in Q2 2013.

Venture capital investment in Canadian technology companies continued at a strong pace in 2017, with $4 billion deployed to 502 financings, according to final data released by Thomson Reuters. In dollar terms, this represented a 12 percent increase from 2016. Deal-making appeared to slow in Q4 2017, when VC funds invested only $890 million in the domestic market, marking the end of a four-quarter run of values exceeding $1 billion. Foreign investors played a key role in 2017 trends, accounting for more than half of all disbursements. Canadian IT companies captured most VC investment, or $2.5 billion, the highest level of activity in the sector since 2001.

Venture capital investment in Canadian technology companies continued at a robust pace in the first half of 2017, with $2.1 billion invested in 237 financings, according to final data released by Thomson Reuters. In dollar terms, this was the most active first half since 2001, with Q2 2017 marking the third consecutive quarter in which disbursements exceeded $1 billion. H1 2017 deal volumes, however, were down by 27 percent year over year. The second quarter accounted for only 100 rounds, the fewest since Q3 2012. Canadian venture capital fundraising, while falling short of the record-setting levels of last year, nonetheless saw 13 funds raising $617 million in the first half.

Venture capital investment in Canadian technology startups continued at a strong pace in the first quarter, with a total of $804 million invested in 115 financing rounds, according to final data released by Thomson Reuters. While in dollar terms these results mark a year-over-year decline of 10 percent, Q1 2017 was the second most active first quarter in the domestic market since 2001. The number of deals done was reduced more considerably, or 27 percent below the volume reported in Q1 2016. Fundraising activity was also slower between January and March, as seven Canadian venture capital funds accounted for only $169 million in commitments.

Venture capital investment in Canada continued at a rapid pace in the first three quarters of 2016, with a total of $2.5 billion invested in 446 deals, according to data released by Thomson Reuters. That is the best result since 2001. Growth accounted for slower trends in Q3 2016, when $774 million was invested. Year-to-date activity was driven by large rounds, with Thalmic Labs and 10 other companies raising $50 million or more, which is close to breaking an all-time record in Canada. Fundraising returned to strength in Q3 2016, with $725 million in committed capital. That brings total domestic funds raised to $1.7 billion at the end of September.