New Deloitte venture fund targets Canada

The Canadian arm of business services firm Deloitte has launched a venture fund that will mainly invest in companies within the country.

With its C$150 million ($118 million; €105 million) war chest, Deloitte Ventures will make minority investments in companies in the fintech, healthtech, cybersecurity, cleantech and risk compliance sectors, among others.

The newly launched fund is focused on building its investment team and will hire a lead investor with VC experience soon, said Talia Abramowitz, managing partner at Deloitte Ventures.

“Investments made by Deloitte Ventures will really help our clients stay ahead of the disruption curve so they have the latest emerging technology,” Abramowitz said.

Much of Deloitte Ventures’ investments will be in Canadian start-ups. However, the fund is open to investing outside the country, provided the portfolio company wants to scale in the Canadian market.

The Canadian venture market has been growing. The latest data from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association showed Canadian venture capital investment reached C$11.8 billion in the first nine months of 2021. It last set a record in 2019, with $6.2 billion invested. As previously reported by Venture Capital Journal, US-based funds invested $5.4 billion in Canadian companies, representing 52 percent of all funding.

Canada’s most active independent VCs in Q3 were Inovia Capital, which invested about C$2.5 billion in 33 rounds; Real Ventures, which pumped C$535 million into 28 rounds; and Panache Ventures, which invested C$404 million in 27 rounds, according to the CVCA.

Abramowitz said Deloitte Ventures not only wants to continue supporting innovation growth in Canada, but it also wants to encourage more diverse founders.

“Being a purpose-led organization, we do expect that venture will make a material impact on the Canadian innovation ecosystem,” she said. “It’s not designated to be an impact fund, but we do see opportunities to invest in companies moving the needle on diversity, sustainability and other key issues. It’s another way we hope to make an impact that matters for the Canadian business landscape and ultimately Canada as a whole.”