Vancouver's on a venture capital rollercoaster

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The Canadian Venture Capital Association released its Q3 report on the state of VC across the country and Vancouver has been taken for quite a spin this year.

In good news for the city, Vancouver ranked as the third largest Canadian city this year for total VC deals, with 58 deals valued at $749 million. Here are a few highlights:

• Web3: Big Whale Labs raises $3.8M for it Web3 pseudonymity protocol

• Mining tech: Ideon Technologies closes $16M Series A round

• Auto marketplace: Autozen raises CAD $5.1M, expands across Canada and into Seattle

In not-so-good news across the country, the average VC deal size has significantly dropped relative to Q1, across all sectors. The information, communications and technology sector took the most significant hit, with an average deal size of $29.28 million in Q1 dropping to $7.55 million by Q3.

In both good-and-bad news, BC’s top VC deal was Vancouver’s LayerZero Labs, a blockchain company which raised $168 million earlier this year at a $1 billion valuation. A notable co-lead on this round was FTX Ventures. If you’re wondering, yes, it is the same FTX which collapsed a few weeks ago. Thankfully, LayerZero was able to purchase FTX ventures out of 100 percent of its equity position and continues to operate with a seven-year runway.

What’s next? CVCA anticipates that all sectors — ICT, life sciences, cleantech, agritech — will exceed 2020’s investments (recognizing that 2021 was an outlier year). Cleantech in particular will remain resilient into 2023, thanks to the focus on net-zero in Canada and south of the border.

Now, onto your daily briefing.

Editor’s pick:

Is Vancouver ready for a million more people?

Local leaders explore the role that technology can play in ensuring equitable and sustainable growth across the region at the CityAge: Vancouver conference. Start reading »

Boast reveals the winners of its pitch competition for Canada’s most innovative startup

Vancouver companies took home two of the three top prizes, which totalled more than $250,000. Start reading »

🤝 Funding and deals:

• Produce8, a Vancouver-based SaaS company for remote-first teams, raised $6M in seed funding. Learn more »

🗞️ In other news:

• Office vacancies are on the rise in Vancouver, hitting a two-decade high at 11.5 percent at the end of September, according to Altus. Learn more »

• Vancouver Entrepreneurs’ Forum is offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal on individual memberships. Learn more » 

• Angels for Climate Solutions is accepting applications until tomorrow from tech startups with a climate solution interested in vying for an early-stage $100,000 investment. Learn more »

• Did you attend Vancouver Startup Week this year? Fill out the survey here.

💡 Ideas and insights:

• FrontFundr, the equity crowdfunding platform, reflects on how the company’s UX has changed since its beginnings in 2015, in comparison to Airbnb in 2008. 

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Until tomorrow!