BNN video interview with Lou Eccleston, chief executive officer at TMX Group and Salil Munjal, chair Advancing Innovation Roundtable

One of the biggest challenges facing Canadian startups has been access to growth capital in Canada. The TMX Group has launched the Advancing Innovation Roundtable to close Canada’s innovation growth funding gap.

Lou Eccleston, chief executive officer at TMX Group and Salil Munjal, general partner at Yaletown, sat down with BNN’s Catherine Murray to talk about the initiative.

Highlights:

What’s different about the new roundtable versus other funding initiatives and reviews underway?

The Advancing Innovation Roundtable is:

• Investor led
• Growth capital focused, not incubation or startup stage
• Looking at public and private capital

The Advancing Innovation Roundtable is a diverse group of members representing different industries, different regions of country to look at broad opportunities for impact. The group will examine policy, taxes, funding and public and private opportunities to close the growth capital gap and support Canada’s future innovation.

“The innovation franchise for the future of Canada is every bit as important as the resource franchise has been for Canada. We need to look at them both, together,” Lou Eccleston, chief executive officer at TMX Group.

“Canada has really been excelling at funding startup generation. Where we’re not doing well is the next phase. Typical Canadian growth financing is about one-quarter of growth financings for U.S. companies,” Salil Munjal, general partner at Yaletown and chair of Advancing Innovation Roundtable.

Expanding the capital base is needed for Canada’s growth ahead.

Watch video

Author: BNN