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Canadian VC Funding and Deals Reach Record Highs in 2018 According to MoneyTree™ Canada Report
Friday, February 1, 2019Company Profile | Follow Company
Vancouver, BC, February 1, 2019--(T-Net)--Funding and deals to Canadian venture-backed companies hit a record high as $3.5B (all figures in USD) was raised across 471 deals in 2018, according to the MoneyTree™ Canada report from PwC Canada and CB Insights.
Canada closed out the year strongly with a 79% jump in funding to $983M in Q4'18, up from $548M in the previous quarter. Activity also increased to 116 deals, up from 96 in Q3.
Canadian VC funding rose for the second consecutive year.
"2018 was another year of record highs for Canadian venture-backed companies. While deal count has risen across all stages of funding, the increase in total investment was mostly driven by larger cheque sizes in expansion and later-stage deals. Notable is the 26% increase in average deal size of expansion-stage deals year over year, which is an indicator of scale in the sector," said Michael Dingle, National Technology Sector Leader, PwC Canada.
"The Canadian startup ecosystem is doing well as funding and deals hit record highs this past year," stated Anand Sanwal, co-founder and CEO of CB Insights. "Sectors of strength include artificial intelligence, fintech, and digital health that all hit record funding highs in 2018. Investment and deals also increasingly flowed to top markets -- Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Québec City, and Calgary. Corporate investors will likely participate in more deals this coming year as investors recognize the growing market opportunity within Canada."
In 2018, Toronto and Vancouver were the top markets in deal activity and also saw 47% and 14% funding increases respectively, compared to 2017 funding totals. Toronto funding increased for the fifth consecutive year and deal activity also increased, from 136 in 2017 to 160 in 2018.
Montreal also saw funding and deal increases for the third consecutive year as Montreal-based companies raised $861Min 2018, up from $669M in 2017. Québec City funding and deals jumped with $427M across 30 transactions in 2018, up from $184M across 11 transactions in 2017. Calgary funding reached a six-year annual high as $126M was invested across 20 deals in 2018.
Key highlights for 2018:
The MoneyTree report can be found here.
About PwC Canada
At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. More than 7,400 partners and staff in offices across the country are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, consulting and deals services. PwC Canada is a member of the PwC network of firms with more than 250,000 people in 158 countries. Find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com/ca.
© 2019 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.
PwC refers to the Canadian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see http://www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
About CB Insights
At CB Insights, we believe the most complex strategic business questions are best answered with facts. We are a machine intelligence company that synthesizes, analyzes and visualizes millions of documents to give our clients fast, fact-based insights. Serving the majority of the Fortune 100, we give companies the power to make better decisions, take control of their own future—and capitalize on change.
For further information:
Pierre Campeau, Manager, Public Relations, T: 416 687-8643, Email: pierre.campeau@pwc.com; Kelly Baudru, Manager, Communications, T: 416 687-8643, Email: kelly.baudru@pwc.com
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