A $33-million investment in e-commerce company Cymax is B.C.’s largest capital venture deal completed through the first three quarters of 2015, according to a report from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA).
The CVCA’s November 12 report determined 61 venture capital deals involving B.C.-based companies have been announced so far this year, totalling $290 million.
Last year was more vibrant for the West Coast, however, as local firms managed to raise $339 million in venture capital by the end of Q3.
The $60 million raised in 2014 by Vancouver-based Hootsuite is nearly double that of the Cymax deal.
Cymax’s $33-million investment was raised primarily through BDC Capital and PlentyOfFish founder Markus Frind, who sold his online dating service earlier this year for US$575 million.
He told Business in Vancouver in July he was making a $21-million investment in Cymax as part of a strategy to focus on mid-stage companies as opposed to early-stage tech firms. Cymax specializes in buying and selling furniture online as well as software development.
But the CVCA report found most investors across Canada aren’t following Frind’s lead.
“There’s a trend toward early-stage investing which has captured the majority (52%) of investments at $843 million to date. Early-stage investing captured 33% of total investments in 2013 and 40% in 2014,” the CVCA said.
Across Canada, $1.6 billion in venture capital has been raised so far this year with Ontario ($708 million) and Quebec ($484 million) outdoing third-ranked B.C.
