Venture capital investment in Quebec in the first half of 2013 has already topped last year’s total, according to Thomson Reuters and Réseau Capital.
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In the first half of 2013, $433 million was invested, exceeding the $415 million invested in 2012.
In the second quarter of 2013, investments totaled $246 million, more than double the $100 million invested in the second quarter of 2012.
Also in Q2 2013, the Canadian market rose slightly—17% —with $886 million invested, while the U.S. saw a 7% decline, with investments totalling $12.6 billion.
Québec was dominant, with 49% of all funds invested in Canada for the first six months of 2013. Montréal accounted for 41% of all funds invested countrywide.
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Major deals in Québec included a $50 million financing round completed in June by Enerkem, on top of the $37 million in the first quarter of 2013. This deal shows why clean-tech sectors continue to drive venture capital market growth in Québec, bringing in $109 million in investments in Q2 2013, far exceeding the $19 million in clean-tech investment for all of 2012.
Non-technology sectors had $105 million invested, due largely to deals involving Propair Inc. of Rouyn-Noranda and Revision Military Ltd. of Montréal.
Venture capital invested in the IT and life sciences sectors fell in Q2 2013 from the same period in 2012. Early- and late-stage deals are gaining ground in Québec, though expansion and related late-stage deals continue to set the trend, absorbing 71% of total investment.
Meanwhile, the Québec buyout and private equity market declined from the record levels of 2012, with deals in the first half of 2013 totalling $1.5 billion, still above year-long activity in 2011, 2010 and 2009.
A total of 50 control-stake acquisitions, minority investments and other private equity deals were conducted in Québec between January and June, down 22% from the number of deals reported the previous year. The value of reported deals totalled $1.5 billion in the first half of 2013, down 44% from $2.7 billion a year earlier.
In the first half of 2013, Canadian mezzanine, buyout and other private equity fundraising activity appeared to be tracking well ahead of activity reported in 2012. New capital commitments totalling $3.7 billion went to 19 funds, including Québec funds, nearly double the amount committed in the same period last year.