Canadian VC funding sees strong growth in digital health and fintech, according to MoneyTree™ Canada Report

• Canadian funding in Q3'18 dropped by 42% to $541M
• Early-stage deals increased to 30%, up from 20% in Q2
• Corporate participation in deal activity increased for the third consecutive quarter
• Toronto and Vancouver continued to drive the highest number of deals

TORONTO, Oct. 25, 2018 /CNW/ - Funding to Canadian venture-backed digital health and fintech companies increased in the third quarter of 2018 according to the MoneyTree™ Report from PwC Canada and CB Insights. This past quarter, Canadian venture-backed companies closed 87 deals, down from 127 in Q2. Meanwhile, total venture capital funding (all figures in USD) totaled $541M in Q3'18, a 42% decline in investment from last quarter.

"The first half of 2018 saw a new high in venture capital investment in Canada, and yet we have seen a marked decrease in deal activity in the third quarter. While a decrease does not come as a surprise, we will be sure to keep a close eye on investment trends for the following quarters as the tech sector in particular seeks to maintain funding levels," said Michael Dingle, National Deals Technology Leader, PwC Canada.

"While overall funding and deal activity among Canadian startups fell this quarter, there were bright spots like digital health and fintech," stated Anand Sanwal, co-founder and CEO of CB Insights. "The digital health sector saw a 168% spike in funding -- the third-straight quarterly increase in this industry and well above the funding range in recent years."

While Vancouver and Toronto remained the top markets in deal activity, funding and deal activity for these cities decreased slightly in Q3'18 to $104M across 21 deals and $248M across 30 deals, respectively. Montréal also saw a slight decline, falling to $95M over 16 deals during Q3'18, compared to $105 over 17 deals in Q2'18.

Québec City experienced a significant decline in funding (from $147M to $14M), returning to its historical range, following a massive Q2'18. Fredericton saw three deals this past quarter, well above the historical range for the city.

Key highlights for Q3'18:

• Early-stage rounds increased to 30% of all Canadian deals, while seed stage deals declined to 25% of all deals
  
  
• Corporate investment in Canadian startups has been rising steadily in recent quarters, and it increased to 39% of all deals in Q3'18
  
  
• Comparing deal share by sector, Canadian Internet companies saw deal share jump to 42% in Q3'18, up from 33% in Q2'18. Healthcare companies saw deal share increase for the second quarter in a row, rising to 13% of all deals
  
  
• Investment in Canadian Digital Health companies jumped 170% to $83M, the third-straight quarterly increase
  
  
• Funding to Canadian fintech companies increased to $115M, up from $79M in Q2'18
  
  
• Following a record Q2, funding to Canadian AI companies fell to $106M over 9 deals in Q3'18
  
  
• The largest deals in Q3'18 include Kira ($50M), LEAGUE ($47.2M), and Nuna Logistics ($42.5M)
  
  
• The most active investors in Canadian companies were BDC, Anges, Panache Ventures, Real Ventures, and iNovia Capital

The MoneyTree Report can be found here.

About PwC Canada
At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. More than 7,400 partners and staff in offices across the country are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, consulting and deals services. PwC Canada is a member of the PwC network of firms with more than 250,000 people in 158 countries. Find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com/ca.

© 2018 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.

PwC refers to the Canadian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see http://www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

About CB Insights
At CB Insights, we believe the most complex strategic business questions are best answered with facts.  We are a machine intelligence company that synthesizes, analyzes and visualizes millions of documents to give our clients fast, fact-based insights. Serving the majority of the Fortune 100, we give companies the power to make better decisions, take control of their own future—and capitalize on change.

SOURCE PwC Canada

Claudia Landry, Specialist, Public Relations, T : 514 205-5261, Email : [email protected]; Pierre Campeau, Manager, Public Relations, T: 416 687-8643, Email: [email protected]