Canadian VC climbs to 18-year high in 2018 as top deals raise $1.4 bln

Canada’s venture capital market broke records in 2018, its ninth straight year of growth. The milestones included the most financings sized $100 million or more – ever. That made the market’s top 10 VC financings especially cash-intensive. In all, they drew $1.4 billion from investors, up 17 percent from the $1.2 billion raised by the top 10 deals in 2017. The number is based on PE Hub Canada’s list of the largest financings announced in 2018, supplemented by preliminary data from Refinitiv. It points to the considerable influence of late-stage rounds in technology investment activity, which reached a total of $4.3 billion last year, a nearly two-decade high.