Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
BDC Commits ~$1 Billion to Support Canadian Scale-ups
Financing | Feb 18, 2025
Image: Freepik/jcomp
BDC Invests Nearly $1B to Boost Canadian Businesses
Canada’s Business Development Bank (BDC) is injecting almost $1 billion into helping Canadian companies scale up and compete globally, during this period of challenging economic conditions. The announced funding will almost be split between two growth funds as follows:
The Growth Venture Fund (GVF) will receive $500 million, targeting late stage tech firms facing difficulties in securing capital. In 2023, venture capital investment in Canada dropped across all stages, with funding for later stage firms almost in half compared to 2022.
The Growth Equity Partners (GEP) program will receive $450 million to support mid-market businesses with equity investments to help companies grow and acquire strategic assets. Since its launch in 2017, GEP has invested over $440 million in 36 Canadian firms.
See: What Toronto Can Learn from Tel Aviv’s Start-Up Scene
Isabelle Hudon, President and CEO, BDC:
"We are leaning into our role as Canada's development bank. We fundamentally believe that our economic resilience begins and ends with the Canadian entrepreneur. Investing in our best and brightest is always a winning strategy, whether it's responding to the short-term uncertainty like tariffs and inflation or shoring up our long-term economic prosperity".
Notable Investments
- Certn (Victoria, BC): Receiving $30M to grow its AI powered background check/screening services globally
- StackAdapt (Toronto, ON): A digital advertising company that uses AI
- BCES Global (Ottawa, ON): Electrical services is using BDC’s investment to consolidate its market position
- Dissan Group (Montreal, QC): A janitorial supply distributor will use funding to expand its network
Why It Matters
With risking economic uncertainty, borrowing costs, and labour challenges, it's harder for businesses to access capital. BDC's almost $1 billion investment will help Canadian businesses grow and compete by filling funding gaps for mid-size and scale-up companies, strengthening Canada's innovation economy.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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