Canadian tech sees record-breaking number of $100 million deals in September

If the impressive growth of jobs wasn’t enough to validate the hype around Canada’s tech sector, the record number of big-ticket deals will be.

Large investments in Canadian startups are trending upwards. In September 2019 alone, Canada saw four venture capital deals surpassing $100 million for organizations in Hamilton, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, accelerating the expansion and development of homegrown companies.

The impact of this investment spike can’t be understated: in all of 2018, Canadian startups saw only three deals that rose above $100 million.

The four major raises:

• Fusion Pharmaceuticals, developer of an innovative precision radiotherapy cancer treatment, raised $140 million in a Series B round at the end of August
• TouchBistro, a mobile payment-and-order system for restaurants, announced a $121 million Series E raise in mid-September
• Element AI, an artificial intelligence company that seeks to improve operations for a range of industries, secured $151 million
• Clio, a software startup built to manage legal practices and day-to-day tasks, raised $250 million; one of the largest deals in Canadian history

The capital raised will go towards a broad spectrum of uses across the companies: from advancing clinical programs and commercialization, to expanding operations and growing presence in international markets.

These announcements come shortly after an already monumental first half to the year, where Canadian tech startups collectively drew over $3 billion from acquisitions, venture capital deals, seed funding and grants.

At a recent talk for the C.D. Howe Institute, MaRS CEO Yung Wu spoke to the importance of bringing global talent to Canada’s tech market and why Canadian companies are uniquely positioned for success.

“We’re now seeing the north-south brain drain of tech talent reversing,” said Yung. “Much of this is because Canada has been intentional about it and put in place smart investments and policies that are working.”

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