Alberta and Calgary attract record amount of funding in 2022

A new report indicates that both Alberta and Calgary had a strong year in 2022 when it came to venture capital investment.

The Canadian Venture Capital Market Overview (2022 Year in Review) reported that a total of $10 billion was invested in Canada last year in 706 deals.

“Alberta, for the fifth year in a row, attracted a record amount of investments in 2022, with $729 million invested across 85 deals. Defying the fears of economic downturn and decline in VC investments, Alberta is one of the few provinces to experience an increase in investment in comparison to 2021 ($607 million). The largest disclosed deal in the province was raised by Neo Financial, afFintech company, raising $185 million in Q1 2022,” said the report.

Calgary was fourth overall in the country for cities with 64 deals valued at $647 million. It was behind Toronto (216 deals, $4.136 billion); Montreal (102 deals, $1.871 billion; and Vancouver (81 deals, $1.473 billion).

Ontario led the way for all provinces as it received 47 percent of all Canadian investments in 2022 with $4.7 billion invested across 293 deals. The majority of the investment activity focused on Toronto-based companies ($4.1 billion over 216 deals). Ontario alone attracted five of the top 10 largest disclosed deals in Canada.

In the report, Kim Furlong, CEO of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, said the Canadian venture capital market in 2022 saw the second-highest record in both deal count and deal value, despite market uncertainties.

“While the pace and frenzy has receded, VC investors have remained active. Importantly, the pre-seed and seed-stage average deal sizes have increased year-over-year, continuing to expand our healthy pipeline of companies,” she said. “No economic correction is alike and the job numbers and economic resilience both in the US and in Canada has also been an element of surprise.”

Furlong added that while headlines paint a bleak picture at big tech firms, “the environment presents an opportunity for skilled workers to start their own ventures. Like other corrections before, highly skilled workers will take their knowledge and build innovative and dynamic companies that drive growth in the technology sector.” Ultimately, these new startups gain traction and eventually attract VC investment, she said. “Investors are keeping a close eye on the market, as some of the most exciting new ventures are likely to be founded over the coming years.”