I’ve spent three decades building companies — from selling my first software business to Corel while still in high school, to serving as the founding CTO of American Apparel, to launching startups later acquired by Amazon. I’ve raised money in frothy times and in lean ones. And right now, Canadian founders are facing one of the leanest moments in years.
According to the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, just $2.9 billion was invested across 254 deals in the first half of 2025 — the lowest mid-year total since 2020, and a 26% decline from last year. The pullback is hitting young founders hardest: pre-seed and seed deals made up over half of transactions, but attracted only 10% of total dollars. In British Columbia, $737 million was invested across just 23 deals, skewed heavily by one $500 million secondary transaction. The result is an ecosystem where capital is concentrating at the top, while early-stage entrepreneurs are left behind.
This imbalance isn’t just a blip; it reflects a structural weakness in how we build companies. The Silicon Valley playbook assumes endless capital will always be available to fuel experimentation and failure on the way to scale. Canada doesn’t have that luxury — nor should we want it.
What we need instead is a company-building model that fits our environment: one that emphasizes validation before capital, traction before scale, resilience before headlines. In my own work today at Force Multiplier Venture Labs, we take that approach by creating companies internally, testing them with real customers, and only then spinning them out. MahaloApp, a Vancouver-born fintech that lets anyone accept payments without hardware, grew this way. So did Verifiction.com, which tackles deepfake detection in an AI-saturated world.
These examples aren’t exceptions; they’re proof that builders can meet this moment with discipline and creativity. If Canadian founders and investors embrace models that de-risk early and validate before they fund, we won’t just weather the current downturn. We’ll create companies that are stronger, more durable, and better suited to compete globally — even without the safety net of abundant capital.
And Vancouver is the right place to lead this shift. Our ecosystem is dense with talent, grounded by cost pressures, and less beholden to Silicon Valley’s excesses. If we double down on building over betting, British Columbia can model a new path for company creation — one that serves not just our province, but the entire country.
Rudy Rupak is the co-founder of Force Multiplier Venture Labs.
Leave a Reply