British Columbia received the lion’s share of Canadian venture capital (VC) financing in the first quarter, according to a report from CPE Analytics.
CPE reported that Canadians VC financings raised a total of $2.78 billion through 192 deals in Q1, led by companies in B.C., which raised a total of $1.2 billion through 57 deals.
Vancouver’s Dapper Labs completed the largest Canadian VC deal of all time, raising $304.4 million in the quarter.
B.C.-based information and communications technology companies raised a total of $453 million, while biotech and life sciences companies in the province raised $424 million.
The majority of VC investment in Canada came from the U.S., which contributed $1.5 billion (54%) of total funding in the quarter.
All regions raised more than half of their capital from the U.S. and foreign investors, with the exception of the Prairies, which raised 42% of its capital from outside Canada.
Vancouver was the only city that raised more than $1 billion in the quarter. The other top fundraising cities were Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Calgary, Burnaby, B.C., Halifax, Winnipeg, Kitchener, Ont., Surrey, B.C., and Victoria.