Founded in 1862, Osler integrates traditional law practices with emerging technology from its offices in Calgary and beyond.
This week, the national law firm released its second-annual tech financings report. This year’s edition combed through more than 300 technology-based venture capital equity financings to deliver a range of information and insight into Canada’s ecosystem.
The 2023 report captures both doom and gloom and energetic optimism.
“Headlines and market sentiment painted a tumultuous picture of the technology and venture markets amidst the backdrop of rising interest rates,” the Deal Points Report reads, “leading to increases in the cost of capital, shrinking consumer spending, and reduced business investment growth.”
Osler’s analysis also observed “impressive signs of growth, renewal, and resilience in the ecosystem.”
According to Osler’s 2023 Deal Points Report, “Ontario and British Columbia have the highest concentration of companies raising a financing round.”
Alberta accounts for 11% of the share, the report shows, which is marked growth over the previous figure of 9%.
Osler’s Calgary office reported on 14 Alberta deals from 2020 through 2022, a growth rate of 100% for the region, the highest in Canada.
These marks of momentum for Alberta are backed up by data from the Canadian Venture Capital Association.
“Alberta, for the fifth year in a row, attracted a record amount of investments in 2022,” states the Canadian Venture Capital Market Overview: 2022 Year in Review.
The province saw startups raise more than $700 million across nearly 90 deals in 2022.
“Defying the fears of economic downturn and decline in VC investments,” Alberta is among select provinces to have experienced an increase in investment in comparison to 2021, which was just over $600 million.
The largest investment of 2022 for Alberta was in Neo Financial: a massive Series C round that crowned the Alberta fintech with unicorn status.
Neo, founded in 2019, has now raised a total of $300 million.
One of the other local companies Osler features in the report is Alberta-born Mercator AI, which CalgaryTech presciently profiled ahead of the Calgary-based startup’s $5 million seed round.
Osler’s own profile of the freshly funded Mercator AI notes that the company is on “a fast track to hiring a larger team,” despite Canada’s broader economic downturn.
The startup intends to triple its headcount, driving value in key markets such as Calgary, Edmonton, and beyond, cofounder Chloe Smith informed Osler.
Overall, both the Osler and CVCA reports signal to signs of strength, resilience, and optimism for the Alberta tech economy moving forward in 2023.
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