Michael Grant

New forms of financing for innovation projects have the potential to improve Canada’s innovation ecosystem. Seen in this light, crowdfunding, a fintech innovation, should be welcomed, writes the Conference Board of Canada's Michael Grant in an exclusive PE Hub Canada feature article. But Canada’s crowdfunding market is currently under-developed, with equity and debt crowdfunding amounting to less than $50 million per annum. Grant makes the case that further development of the domestic market will depend on innovations and less restrictive provincial regulations.

Canadian entrepreneurs regularly cite a lack of financing options as a reason for Canada’s mediocre innovation performance. Certainly part of the problem has to do with the organization of risk capital markets. But Canadian entrepreneurs have to take some responsibility too. A recently-published report by the Conference Board of Canada, Inside the Labyrinth: Connecting Innovators to Risk Capital, explores the topic of funding tech ventures from the perspective of both entrepreneurs and investors. In a PE Hub Canada feature article, the report's author, Michael Grant, discusses some of the key findings.