Yaletown Partners remains one of Canada’s most active private independent VC firms and our investment in Bit Stew Systems ranked as one of the top 50 deals of the year according to the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association’s independent annual roll of up investment activity for 2015.

Shane Dingman of The Globe and Mail characterized the 536 deals last year as, “The best result for Canadian startups since before the 2008 financial crisis.”

The CVCA’s report and follow up media highlight how Canadian technology ventures are increasingly worthy of investor interest and top talent. Globally, Canada has a growing international reputation for innovation. Compass.co in its Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking for 2015 scored Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto among the world’s top 20 startup cities.

Becoming a mature technology ecosystem, however, requires strength on multiple fronts. Canada has momentum, and the additional $2-billion raised in 2015 will help foster greater investment in 2016, but still some financing gaps remain.

Yaletown Partners’ analysis, and years of investment and operating experience in Canada, highlights a persistent imbalance between the large number of technology companies seeking emerging-growth financing and the amount of capital targeting companies in their initial growth phase. Many post-startup Canadian technology companies remain insufficiently financed to achieve their growth potential. Canada has the opportunity to close this emerging-growth financing gap, which would accelerate business growth, fund key hires and realize timely, valuable exits for Canadian technology companies.

The outlook is very positive for Canadian technology in 2016. Let’s just keep a realistic and concerted focus on closing the gaps that remain as Canada strives to earn true rank as a technology innovator on the world stage.

Find out more:

The Globe & Mail – Venture capital climbs to 10-year high as technology booms 

The top 50 Canadian VC deals of 2015 (subscribers to Globe and Mail can only see this content)

CVCA 2015 Venture Capital Market Overview 

Author : Yaletown Partners