THIS is one of the best analyses I've read on the VC ecosystem as of late. While John Rikhtegar spends the report covering the Canadian ecosystem, I find it as useful - and lots of parallels to the US VC ecosystem and where LP dollars went - for the broader global economy.
It's a longer read, but I promise, worth every minute.
Some of the notes that stuck out most for me:
1/ 50% of the past decade's exit values were generated in 2020 and 2021. Great liquidity for LPs, but that forced LPs to have an unprecedented amount of capital to redeploy, which made them redeploy quickly to VC, but caused a vacuum and left 2023 and 2024 years far drier for GPs fundraising in market.
2/ From peak in 2021/2022, there's been a 76% drop in exit value in the Canadian ecosystem, 85% drop in Canadian VCs fundraising, and a 77% drop in capital Canadian VCs invest into the ecosystem.
3/ The median exit age of for the top 50 Canadian companies is 12 years. The median time between first financing and its exit for the top 50 is 8 years, leaving a median time of 4 years from a company's founding to their first financing. As such, if a Canadian VC's deployment period is 4 years, it's right to assume as an LP, that you're not going to see the end of the fund till 12 years after you invest. Even if the GP pitches a 10-year fund.
4/ Not all exits are created equal. The top quartile of top 50 exits raised more capital than the lower quartile. The median exit capital efficiency for Canada's top 50 companies for was 7.7X. Meaning the median company exited for $7.70 on every $1 they raised.
5/ Median US exit values are 2X Canada's. That said, Canada is catching up. In the past decade, the US produced $2.6T in exit value, compared to Canada's $56B, only a 46X. Lowest delta on record.
Why is capital efficiency key to building Canadian venture? How does the past decade of Canadian exit value and volume compare to the US? Learn these answers, and more, based on our analysis of the past decade of Canadian venture through the lens of capital exited: https://lnkd.in/eiMAyrHf
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Founder and Chief Financial Officer at Stellar Global Ltd
2moSo delighted to join the Marvesting family 🤩