Key highlights from the latest VC & PE Canadian Market Overview.
- $690M was invested in 139 deals in the first quarter, 6% more than the $649M invested in the same quarter last year. Coming on the heels of two back-to back $1B+ quarters, this is a healthy signal that 2018 will continue to build on last year’s momentum.
- The average deal size was $5M, a 5% increase compared to Q1 2017. Compared to the average deal size in the 5-year period between 2013-2017 ($5.3M), this represents a 6% drop.
- The top 10 deals amounted to $370M or a 54% share of total dollars invested. This is a significant jump from last year, where the top 10 deals accounted for only 30% share of total investment.
- There were three $50M+ mega-deals this quarter which captured a 34% share of total investment:
- Toronto-based ecobee Inc. closed a $100M series C round from an investor syndicate that included Relay Ventures.
- Toronto-based WealthSimple Financial Inc. raised a $67M new round of financing from Montreal-based Power Financial Corporation.
- Vancouver-based Hootsuite Media closed a $65M financing from CIBC Innovation Banking.
- Deals between $1M-$5M captured 16% of total dollars invested, representing a 7% increase from its share last year.
- Ontario-based companies received 55% of investment ($379M), up from their 38% share last year; BC-based companies received 19% ($131M) followed closely by Quebec-based companies with an 18% ($125M) share.
- Toronto-based companies received almost half ($337M over 45 deals) of total dollars disbursed, with Vancouver-based companies receiving 18% ($127M over 18 deals) and Montreal-based companies a 12% share ($83M over 18 deals).
- ICT companies grabbed the lion’s share (61%) of total dollars invested in Q1 2018 ($423M over 87 deals) with cleantech companies receiving a 19% share ($132M over 16 deals).
- The market for exits continued the rebound from last year with 11 undisclosed exits.