British Columbia posted a strong year for venture capital investment in 2024, a new report concludes.
Nationwide disbursement for the year, at $8.9 billion, was the third best in Canadian VC history, behind 2021’s $14B and 2022’s $9.7B, according to data from CPE Analytics.
However, a majority of Canadian capital was once again from government sources rather than from private investment, while a weaker fourth quarter casts a shadow of doubt over the fate of 2025. Sure, venture capital isn’t the only path to growth, but it’s a major one for many.
Overall, Canada’s lack of diversification around venture capital spells a “strategic weakness of Canada in the competition for scarce investment dollars,” according to Richard Rémillard, President of Rémillard Consulting Group.
The Canadian fundraising ecosystem, typically reliant on US-based capital, may need to adjust moving forward.
“Canada will need to prepare for a material decline in US VC investment over the short to medium term and which will need to be met with increased VC supply from Canadian sources including private, corporate and government,” said Rémillard.
Within Canada, B.C. is performing well. The province had three regions in the top 10 for investment in 2024. These ten regions represent over 90% of the venture capital flow in Canada.
Provincial anchor Vancouver ranked second in deals (118) and third in amount of dollars invested (over $1B), trailing only heavyweights Toronto (over 200 deals and $3B) and Montreal ($1.1B across 66 deals).
Burnaby ranked just behind Vancouver in fourth place. The city saw nearly $1B invested across nine deals.
Squeezing onto the list in tenth was Richmond, which saw over $100M invested across six deals.
Regardless of national trends, VC remains a big deal in Vancouver, where tech workers make up 9% of Vancouver’s total workforce. Nearly 5,000 tech firms operate in town.
CPE Analytics was founded by Ted Liu in 1992.
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