Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Report: Canada’s Seed Investment Landscape 2013-H1’2024
Investing | Sep 23, 2024
Image: Top verticals H1 2024, CVCA intelligence
Canada’s Seed Investment Value Declined 48% in H1 2024
The Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) recently published a comprehensive report on Pre-seed and Seed investing activity in Canada between 2021 and H1 2024. Last year in 2023, seed investing was quite resilient raising $1.1 billion across 383 deals, representing a significant 21% average annual growth since 2013.
See: Luge Capital Expands Fintech Investment with $96M Fund II
Having said that, the first half of 2024 has cooled with total seed investment value dropping by 48% to $292 million across 148 deals with the average deal size shrinking 31%.
Top 10 Verticals in Seed H1 2024
- SaaS: $33M across 11 deals
- HRTech: $28M across 2 deals
- FinTech: $16M across 6 deals
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): $15M across 5 deals
- Real Estate Tech: $13M across 3 deals
- Machine Learning (ML): $12M across 4 deals
- Blockchain: $9M across 3 deals
- HealthTech: $7M across 3 deals
- Robotics and Drones: $6M across 2 deals
- Web 3: $5M across 2 deals
Geographic Insights
Ontario leads the country with 43% of all seed investments in H1 2024, while Toronto maintains its position as the leading seed investment location, with fintech and SaaS startups driving most of this activity.
See: University of Waterloo Pioneers Endowment-Backed VC Funding in Canada
Ontario
- Pre-Seed: Leading province, with $16 million raised from 20 transactions in H1 2024.
- Seed: Secured $110 million over 44 agreements, accounting for 43% of total seed investments.
- Key Sectors include ICT, Fintech, SaaS, and AI.
Quebec
- Pre-Seed: Lower activity, with $3 million raised from 3 deals.
- Seed: Attracted $49M from 19 deals.
- Key Sectors: Life Sciences, ICT.
Alberta
- Pre-Seed: Strong performer with $8 million across 10 deals.
- Seed: Raised $39M from 15 deals.
- Key Sectors: Cleantech, Agritech.
See: How AI is Revolutionizing Fintech
British Columbia
- Pre-Seed: Lower activity in 2024, with $4 million from four transactions.
- Seed: Secured $41M across 14 deals.
- Key Sectors: Cleantech, Life Sciences.
Global Comparisons
While Canadian seed investment has retreated, it remains quite resilient when compared with global rivals. Seed investments in the United States decreased 36% in 2023, and 20% decline in Europe, making Canada look reasonably steady for early stage funding environment. U.S. investors were participating in 30% of initial investments, down quite a bit from 2023 but still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Conclusion
Canada's seed investment dropped 48% in H1 2024, with $292M raised across 148 deals. Fintech secured $16M, ranking third among top verticals.
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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