Analysis/Editorial
Canadian SPACs blue
Canadian special purpose acquisition corporations (SPACs) as investment vehicles approved to be waste of investors' time and money: 5 of 8 SPACs (since 2021) redeemed, 2 pending QAs, 1 completed QA performed extremely poor.
BDC Venture Capital Performance in Fiscal Year 2023: An Ocean of Red Ink
BDC reported net loss $637.9M in FY 2023 for the VC program, compared to net income of $988M in FY 2022. One can look beyond BDC's own numbers for clues about the performance of Canadian venture capital.
US VC and US corporate VC propel Q2 2023 Canadian VC recovery
Canadian VC recovered in Q2 to report $3.25B in total disbursements for first half of 2023. US VC and US corporate VC propelled recovery with $1.06B invested, representing almost 1/3 of the total funding
2023 1st Half IPOs – 2023 projects to be the worst IPO year since 2016
Based on annualized results from first half results (34 IPOs for $172M), 2023 would be on its way to raise $344M AND become the worst IPO year in term of total amount raised, representing less than 50% of the $799M raised in previous worst IPO year in 2016.
The performance of Canadian issuers went public via SPAC/QA
Canadian companies, The Lion Electric Company, Li-Cycle Holdings Corp, TMC the metals Co Inc., D-Wave Quantum, Inc., Hammerhead Energy Inc., that went public on NASDAQ and NYSE by way of SPAC qualifying acquisition (QA) performed poorly
Governments life support cliff falling Q1, 2023 Canadian VC
Q1 2023 Canadian VC disbursements barely passed $1B with life support from governments and strong fundraising by Quebec companies. $146M raised by VC firms is of concern.
2022, 2nd best VC year at $9.4B
Though down substantially from Canada's best VC year 2021, 2022 managed to hold its place as the second best year since 2017. US and international invested $5.94B accounting for 63% of total disbursements.
Does LIFE make life easier for public company fundraising?
Canadian listed companies raised $121M in Q1 2023 by way of Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (LIFE), averaging $79K, far behind $579K per investor by accredited investor exemption.
Employee Ownership Trusts
Mark Borkowski: Seemingly to be a great idea, current structure of Employee Ownership is a smoke screen.
A Venture Capital Nightmare
Why every venture capital industry stakeholder in Canada should care about the performance of BDC venture capital program - apathy and usual ritual of burying head in sands will not do.
Q1 2023 – 21 Canadian IPOs raise $172.8M – Updated
21 Canadian IPOs completed on CSE, TSX-V, TSX and NASDAQ in Q1 2023. Lithium Royalty's $150M TSX IPO accounted for 87% of amount. CSE's 8 IPOs accounted for 80% of non-CPC IPOs. Lucy Scientific Discovery'S US $5.8M NASDAQ IPO was sole Canadian IPO on foreign exchange
BlackRock Canada leading $1B+ fundraising investment fund manager
BlackRock Asset Management Canada led all investment fund managers in $1B+ fundraising funds in 2022, following by Fiera Capital, TD Asset Management, CI Investments, RBC Global Asset Management, I.G. Investment Management, BNY Mellon Asset Management Canada, 1832 Asset Management, Canada Life Investment Management, NT Global Advisors, Mercer Global Investments Canada
2022 Investment Fund Fundraising Summary Report
2,415 investment funds raised $175B in 2022 with Ontario and Toronto based funds leading with $112B and $107B respectively. Ontario investor led all other jurisdiction investors, investing $89B in 2022.
2023: Annus Horribilis for Venture Capital
The collapse of SVB is sending shockwaves in the US, the UK, Israel and Canada, from hero to zero at the speed of light. The implications for the Canadian tech and venture ecosystem may be severe.
DOTW (Profile) – DFC Cash Management Fund
NT Global Advisors managed DFC Cash Management Fund, a Diversified Fund of Canada family fund, became the first investment fund to report over $1 billion in fundraising in 2022
Crypto and SPAC investment funds experience substantial drop in 2022 fundraising
Canadian Financings - Crypto and SPAC focused investment funds experienced substantial drop in fundraising in 2022 from 2021.
DOTW (Profile) – Canso Corporate Value Fund
Canso Corporate Value Fund, one of $1 billion+ fundraising investment funds in 2021, reported 2022 fundraising of $763 million, down 43% from $1.33 billion in 2021.
DOTW (Profile) – Canoe Global Private Equity Fund
Canoe Financial LP's Canoe Global Private Equity Fund, managed by Fiera Comox Partners, raised $122M since inception.
