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CANADIAN VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT DOWN 7 PERCENT IN FIRST QUATER 2020

On Monday, the group released preliminary data for Q1 2020 venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) investment in the Canadian market.


It was found that VC Investments invested $ 834 million on 125 deals in Q1. This indicates a decline compared to the previous three record-breaking quarters, totaling more than $ 1 billion in all investments. However, $ 834 million is only 7.5 percent less than the $ 897 million invested in 116 deals of Q1 2019.

In comparison, the fourth quarter of 2019 invested $ 1.6 billion in 144 deals and contributed significantly to the year's record-breaking total. The Q1 results track deals closed and were revealed between January 1 and March 31, 2020.

According to CVCA data, three $ 50 million-plus mega deals were led by the economic impacts caused by COVID-19 this quarter. In comparison, Q1 2019 saw six mega deals. Miovision's $ 120 million CAD Series C (announced in January) was the only revealing mega-deal this quarter.

CVCA noted that Q1 had three VC-supported exits, totaling $ 16 million, although its preliminary figures did not reveal which deals it was referring to. The quarter's final figures are expected to be published in early June.

The data for this quarter is a record-breaking year for Canadian VC investments. In 2019, VC investment reached new heights with a record 6.2 billion CAD on 539 deals. As part of its initial report, the CVCA predicted that activity levels would decrease in Q2 2020 "as the firms closed in mid-March to Canada following the World Health Organization's March 11 official announcement that COVID- 19 was an epidemic.

" A report by company Genome found that 58 % of start ups in Canada/US said their industry was "badly affected" by the COVID-19 crisis; Seven percentage points above the global average.

Four percent of Canadian startups reported to Startup Genome that they were effectively shut down due to the epidemic. On a more +ve note, 8% of Canadian startups reported that their industry experienced growth. According to the CVCA, PE investment increased from the same time last year, investing $ 4.5 billion in 119 deals in Q1 2020.

This is double the amount invested in the same quarter last year, totaling about $ 2 billion. There were five PE-backed exits for the first time in the quarter totaling $ 8.8 billion, including GFL environmental IPOs on TMX and NYSE. Canadian Startup News, 4 May 2020, by Megan Simpson

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