$8 Million in Venture Capital Deals In New Brunswick Last Year
FREDERICTON–A report from the Canadian Venture Capital Association says that venture capital investment in Canada reached a new high in 2015, in terms of both the number of deals and the total value.
There were 536 deals representing about $2.3 billion in investment last year according to the CVCA, an increase of 24 per cent and 12 per cent respectively over 2014. In New Brunswick, there were 17 deals done last year worth $8 million.
That puts the province ahead of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador, but behind Nova Scotia, which had 27 deals worth $51 million.
New Brunswick deals last year included NBIF leading an investment in Saint John’s Gemba, Halifax-based Build Ventures and Salesforce.com’s investment in Fredericton’s Introhive, and McRock Capital’s investment in Moncton’s RtTech.
The CVCA report says Ontario continued to lead all provinces in venture capital investments, accounting for 38 percent of deals and 42 per cent of investment. Quebec investment activity rose sharply in 2015, increasing its national share of VC activity to about 31 per cent.
2015 also saw three large IPOs in Canada (Shopify, ProNAi, and Davids Tea) which helped VC exit values reach a record of $4.3 billion in 2015, compared with $1.5 billion in 2014 and $1.3 billion in 2013.
The ICT sector continued to lead all sectors with just under two-thirds of VC investments.