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2024 Canadian VC, 3rd best in history, Q4 crash points to uncertain 2025

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All dollar ($) figures in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

TORONTO, March 5, 2025 /CNW/ – Canadian venture capital (VC) in 2024 totalled $8.89 billion* from 739 financings.

Summary

2024 disbursement $8.89 billion is the third best in Canadian VC history, behind 2021’s $14.2 billion and 2022’s $9.71 billion.Q3 2024 disbursement $3.57 billion is the second best behind Q2 2021’s $4.90 billion.Q4 2024 disbursement $1.19 billion is the second worst quarterly result since 2021 just ahead of Q3 2023’s $1.17 billion.

CPE Analytics tracks capital that flows directly into the companies and excludes known secondary portions of transaction rounds, in which no money went to the companies to help them grow and scale.  CPE Analytics provides Canada’s only reliable benchmark on Canadian VC investment activities.  With the inclusion of secondaries, substantially large sums in recent years, other providers’ data are of little use and relevance to truly and accurately measure and benchmark the state of Canadian VC ecosystem.

Key Observations

I.  USA, South Korea China, UK top four funding sources
USA, South Korea, China and UK are top four funding sources for Canadian companies, together accounting for 62% of capital flowing into Canadian companies.

____________________________
* * * CPE Analytics’ dataset is distinguished by a rigorous application of proper methodological practice which, for instance, does not include M&A transactions completed by VC-backed portfolio companies or other secondaries transactions. For example, Clio itself did not receive US $900 million of the total funding. A substantial of the funding went to company’s management and employees, and to existing investors.

II.  Asian investors led by South Korea, China, Japan increased their shares of funding sources 
Investors from Asia invested $842 million or 9% in Canadian companies. Top five Asian investor were from South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. There was no investment from Indian investors. Asian investors’ share could  be higher if some of their investments made from the offshore locations had been disclosed.   In comparison, Asian investors invested $343 million for 5% share of total Canadian disbursements in 2023.

III.  Governments continue to out-invest Canadian private VCs 
Canadian governments invested $941 million, our-investing Canadian private VC by $235 million.  In comparison, governments and private VC invested $847 million and $496 million in 2023 respectively, for a differential of almost $351 million

IV.  Q4 crash points to an uncertain 2025
Canadian companies attracted $1.19 billion in Q4 2024, a precipitous fall of 67% from Q3 2024.  Q3 being the second best quarterly Canadian results has made the matter even worse.  Not considering of Q3, 2024, Q4 2024 reported the second lowest quarterly results since 2021, barely bettering Q3 2023 by $18 million. There is still plenty time to fully account the quarter, Q1, 2025 has yet to show any sight of turning round.

V.  VC fund fundraising continues to lag
58 funds raised $2.64 billion, ahead the historic low of $1.72 billion in 2023, still far behind fundraising in 2022 in which 48 funds raised $4.74 billion.   

” The 2024 data starkly reveal the dependence of Canada’s innovation industries on foreign VC investment, particularly that originating from the US which alone accounted for 53% of all VC investment dollars in Canada. At a time of hyper-nationalism in the US federal administration today and with fears of economic warfare across multiple fronts surging in Canada and elsewhere this over-reliance on US VC constitutes a strategic weakness of Canada in the competition for scarce investment dollars. The US federal government’s focus on securing American technological leadership will likely result in it actively promoting US VC investment into domestic firms while looking askance at foreign ventures. As a result, Canada will need to prepare for a material decline in US VC investment over the short to medium term and which will need to be met with increased VC supply from Canadian sources including private, corporate and government,” commented Richard Rémillard, President of Rémillard Consulting Group (RCG).

” The 2024 data show the increasing proportion of investment dollars going into ICT, driven largely by AI. As Marc Andreessen famously said, “Software is eating the world”, compared to 2017, the data starkly reveal how Biotech and Cleantech have reversed positions as Biotech has plummeted as a proportion of VC investments while Cleantech has reached new heights.  Fintech investments, as a proportion overall, continue to stagnate,” added Rémillard,

2024 Highlights

Top 10 municipal cities
The top 10 cities collectively raised $8.13 billion, accounting for 91% of the total disbursements.  

Municipal City

Province

# Fin’s

$ Millions

Toronto

Ontario

201

3,345

Montreal

Quebec

66

1,159

Vancouver

British Colombia

118

1080

Burnaby

British Columbia

9

906

Calgary

Alberta

79

765

Quebec City

Quebec

19

286

Kitchener

Ontario

14

197

Mississauga

Ontario

13

159

Ottawa

Ontario

31

128

Richmond

British Columbia

6

102

556

8,128

Top 10 foreign funding sources
Investors from the top 10 countries accounted 66% of total capital flow into Canadian companies.

Country

$ Millions

United States

4,693

South Korea

454

China

168

United Kingdom

164

Japan

123

Switzerland

100

Netherlands

64

Sweden

57

Germany

51

France

42

Top 10 Investor types
Top 10 types of investors accounted of 91% of the total disbursements into Canadian companies.

Investor Type

$ Millions

Private VC – US

2,091

Mutual/Hedge Fund – US

1,327

Corporate – Foreign

962

Government – CDN

941

Corporate – US

836

Private VC – CDN

706

Private VC – Foreign

352

Corporate – CDN

301

Private Investors – CDN

261

Family Office – CDN

249

Top 10 VC law firms
48 law firms were tracked or reported to participate in Canadian VC financings in the first nine months of 2024.  

Law Firm

# Companies

# Financings

$ Millions

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

28

59

2,201

Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

19

70

450

LaBarge Weinstein LLP

14

32

196

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

8

13

475

Dentons Canada LLP

8

15

49

McCarthy Tétrault LLP

6

15

107

Mintz LLP

5

22

50

McInnes Cooper

5

16

33

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

5

23

28

Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

4

8

13

Summary report
Summary report can be downloaded from financings.ca website:  https://www.financings.ca/reports/

Methodology
Included

Equity and quasi-equity investments in companies directly.

Excluded

Secondary transactions (investor/shareholder exit events) in which companies received no money.Acquisition for expansions (M&As)PE transactionsFinancing by foreign headquartered/domiciled companies with Canadian subsidiaries.

Rémillard Consulting Group (RCG)
Rémillard Consulting Group (RCG) is a unique, Ottawa-based, bilingual consulting firm specializing in providing private sector, government & trade association clients with creative, research-grounded solutions to business issues and public policies involving the Canadian financial services industry. For more information: rremillard@bellnet.ca

CPE Analytics
With 108,900 financing transactions, and growing continuously and rapidly to its all Canadian Financings database, CPE Analytics is Canada’s undisputed leader in financing intelligence.  We provide comprehensive, verified, unbiased and unmatched insights and intelligence on private and public financings, initial public offerings (IPOs), M&As, professional investment firm fundraising activities.

We cover all aspects of VC information, not limited to but including Canada’s only information on VC firm fundraising, VC funding sources (where all the VC came from and from which types of investors).

CPE Analytics is the data analytics division of CPE Media & Data Company.  More Info: https://cpeanalytics.cahttps://financings.ca

CPE Media & Data Company
Founded by Canada’s the most experienced private capital and financing research experts, CPE Media & Data Company is Canada’s leading all financing news and intelligence provider. More information: https://cpecompany.ca/

 

SOURCE CPE Media & Data Company

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Zifo Transforms Ontology Engineering with AI-Powered Intelligent Automation

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Advanced AI solution speeds up ontology creation by 80%, generating structured, interoperable knowledge models for science-driven organizations.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and CAMBRIDGE, England, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Zifo, the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations, has developed an Intelligent Automation solution for Ontology Engineering, which is designed to seamlessly generate structured, interoperable knowledge models while accelerating ontology creation by 80%.

Overcoming the Bottlenecks of Manual Ontology Creation

Manual ontology creation in the biopharma industry has traditionally been a time-consuming process that requires specialized expertise. Organizations frequently struggle with semantic ambiguity, complex integration challenges, and limited scalability, resulting in workflows that can take weeks to complete. Zifo’s AI-powered automation tackles these challenges head-on by eliminating 80% of the manual work through automated class generation, description creation, and precise IRI mapping.

Addressing the Complexities of Semantic Knowledge

Developing comprehensive knowledge models often demands deep domain expertise to define relationships and align terminology. Zifo’s intelligent solution overcomes this by providing an AI-guided workflow featuring an intuitive interface, meaning specialized ontology engineering knowledge is no longer required. By leveraging LLM-powered generation, the solution creates precise definitions with a deep understanding of domain-specific context, while generating standardized synonyms and establishing controlled vocabulary alignment to eliminate inconsistent terminology.

A Solution Designed for Scalable Scientific Data Modeling

The AI-powered solution addresses critical format compatibility and integration points in ontology management:

Seamless Integration: Automated mapping connects directly to established ontologies, including NCIT, CHEBI, OBI, and EFO, via BioPortal and OLS APIs.Massive Scalability: Parallel processing and batch operations empower teams to execute large-scale ontology projects without performance limitations.Automated Hierarchies: The AI autonomously generates semantic relationships and parent-child hierarchies based on domain context and predefined relation vocabularies.Format Compatibility: The solution produces direct OWL/RDF exports with proper URIs, ensuring seamless downstream integration.

Unique Features include:

Multi-Source Integration: The solution combines BioPortal, OLS, and EMBL-EBI APIs to guarantee comprehensive ontology coverage.Intelligent Ranking System: The system uses AI-powered relevance scoring and justification for precise ontology mappings.Precise IRI Mapping: It ensures that each generated class is linked to the correct IRI, directly promoting semantic web compatibility.Human-in-the-Loop Design: The solution automates repetitive tasks while maintaining vital expert oversight.End-to-End Workflow: Users are guided through a complete pipeline, from initial domain knowledge input straight to exportable OWL files.Visual Knowledge Graph: An interactive graph visualization allows for intuitive relationship exploration and validation.Multi-Format Exports: Provides seamless export options in CSV, OWL, or HTML Ontograph formats for downstream use, collaboration, and visualization.

Strategic Value Across the Scientific Chain

This solution breaks down the traditional barriers of data structuring. Built on a robust backend of Python, LangChain, and leading LLM models, alongside a frontend framework using Next.js 15 and Cytoscape.js for graph visualization, the solution is highly adaptable. Furthermore, future optimization enhancements will include provisions for uploading user-defined classes or semi-ready ontologies.

About Zifo

Zifo is the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations. With expertise spanning research, development, manufacturing, and clinical domains, Zifo serves a diverse range of industries including Pharma, Biotech, Chemicals, Food and Beverage, and more. Trusted by over 190 organizations worldwide, Zifo is the partner of choice for advancing digital scientific innovation.

For more information, visit www.zifornd.comhttps://zifornd.com/practical-ai-blueprints/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2731415/Zifo_Technologies_Logo.jpg

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zifo-transforms-ontology-engineering-with-ai-powered-intelligent-automation-302758975.html

SOURCE Zifo Technologies

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UNC-Chapel Hill establishes ‘Carolina in the Capital’ with new Washington, D.C. office

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C., April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has opened a new office in Washington, D.C., establishing an expanded presence for the University in the nation’s capital and creating exciting opportunities for students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Located at 101 Constitution Avenue NW, the 10,861-square-foot space – coined “Carolina in the Capital” – will support a variety of functions, including educational programming for undergraduate and graduate students, alumni relations and engagement with government partners.

As a leading R1 university, UNC-Chapel Hill annually attracts more than $1.6 billion to the state’s economy to fund research that creates a better quality of life for all its citizens. More than 60% of UNC-Chapel Hill’s total research funding comes from federal sponsors with the majority of that federal funding coming from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is based in the Washington area.

“Carolina in the Capital is a state-of-the-art facility that reflects our commitment to creating experiential learning opportunities for our students and faculty,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “The space is designed as an immersive learning environment where students can translate classroom knowledge into hands-on experience, which has never been more important. The facility also strengthens our ability to support engagement between our staff, alumni, policymakers and partners.”

Supporting students participating in Carolina’s Washington-based academic programs is a priority. For years, students and faculty have relied on temporary or borrowed spaces across the city. The new office provides a permanent home where students can gather, learn and build community while living and studying in Washington. A robust schedule of classes and events will fill the space throughout the year.

The Washington, D.C. region is home to the largest concentration of out-of-state Carolina alumni anywhere in the country. The new office creates a dedicated space to strengthen those connections and support networking, mentorship, professional development and community-building among D.C.-based Tar Heels.

The space will also serve as a platform to bring Carolina’s research and academic expertise into closer conversation with policymakers, industry leaders and member organizations. Carolina is the nation’s 11th largest university in the country based on research volume with primary federal funding coming from NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF), both based in the D.C. area. Carolina is a proud member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Public & Land Grant Universities (APLU), which are both based in Washington.

The office is funded entirely through the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation and does not use any state appropriations.

You can view additional photos of the space here.

Media Contact: UNC Media Relations, 919-445-8555, mediarelations@unc.edu

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unc-chapel-hill-establishes-carolina-in-the-capital-with-new-washington-dc-office-302758250.html

SOURCE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Office of Communications

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Investing.com Acquires Stonki to Accelerate Its Entry into the Agentic AI Era

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The acquisition strengthens Investing.com’s AI capabilities, advancing a next-generation research assistant that can analyze markets, generate insights, and guide investors in real time

NEW YORK, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Investing.com, one of the world’s largest financial platforms used by more than 60 million investors each month, today announced the acquisition of Stonki, an AI-powered investing assistant designed to help traders turn ideas into structured, actionable trading plans.

The move marks a major step in the company’s evolution toward agentic AI, strengthening its ability to deliver faster, deeper, and more actionable market insights to a growing base of more than 300,000 paying subscribers across its InvestingPro suite, the company’s premium subscription offering for advanced market data, tools, and AI-driven insights.

Over the past 12 months, nearly 3 million users have used WarrenAI, Investing.com’s AI-powered financial research assistant launched last year, to perform market analysis, making AI a central entry point into the platform’s ecosystem. With the addition of Stonki, the company is moving beyond traditional AI tools toward agentic systems that can proactively guide users through the investment process.

“We’re entering the age of agentic AI, where the technology moves beyond just answering questions to actively helping investors think, analyze, and act,” said Omer Shvili, CEO of Investing.com. “Bringing Stonki.ai into the fold accelerates our goal of building an agentic platform that will serve as a 24/7 analyst for our users. We are developing this to be more than just a tool; it will be a partner that identifies opportunities, tracks unfolding situations, and surfaces trade ideas even when the user isn’t active—giving our users the kind of edge that was previously only available to professional investors.”

Founded in 2025, Stonki is developing a new category of ‘agentic’ AI for investing, enabling users to turn investment ideas into fully defined strategies with entry and exit conditions, risk management rules, and continuous monitoring.

“We started Stonki because, as investors and traders ourselves, we knew how much time and focus it takes to stay on top of the market and properly manage a day trade, a swing trade, an investment idea, or a portfolio,” said Ulas Bilgenoglu and Itay Verkh, co-founders of Stonki. “We set out to build AI that could carry part of that load by continuously monitoring the market, turning ideas into structured strategies, and helping users make better decisions with clear entry and exit conditions, disciplined risk management, and ongoing tracking. Joining Investing.com gives us the scale, data, reach, and strong AI foundation to accelerate that vision. Together, we can create an experience where AI helps users stay ahead of the market, manage risk, and act with greater confidence.”

The acquisition expands Investing.com’s AI capabilities across both technical and fundamental investing workflows. Stonki’s technology is built around persistent, real-time intelligence, continuously monitoring markets, tracking user-defined strategies, and alerting investors when conditions align, rather than relying on one-off prompts or static analysis.

For active traders, the platform is evolving into a real-time analysis engine designed to support high-frequency decision-making with precision and speed. For long-term investors, it is becoming a central hub for research, enabling users to evaluate opportunities, set personalized alerts, and monitor portfolios based on their individual investment strategies.

Users will be able to define specific conditions, such as a stock crossing a long-term moving average, and have the AI continuously monitor the market, analyze relevant signals, and surface actionable insights in real time. The system will also review portfolios on an ongoing basis, helping investors avoid potential losses and uncover new opportunities aligned with their strategy.

This latest step builds on Investing.com’s broader strategy of expanding its AI-powered suite, including WarrenAI, ProPicks AI, and its recently launched AI Chart Analysis, all aimed at delivering faster, more accurate and more actionable insights to investors.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/investingcom-acquires-stonki-to-accelerate-its-entry-into-the-agentic-ai-era-302756588.html

SOURCE Investing.com

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