Between 2016 and 2020 Canadian cleantech companies raised just over $4B in private and public capital. But what does that lofty figure actually represent?
Here’s a couple of brief takeaways from the DEEP Centre’s analysis of cleantech investment.
- Private equity and debt financings outstrip venture capital. At a total of $2.4B, private equity and debt transactions constitute nearly 60% of all cleantech funding over the five-year period. Venture capital investments in cleantech companies, by comparison, totalled $1.4B between 2016 and 2020.
- The lion’s share of funding went to a small number of companies. We found that 223 unique cleantech companies raised some form of funding over the five-year period. However, half of the $2.4B in PE and debt financing went to just one company. Meanwhile, the top 10 cleantech companies ranked by total venture funding collectively raised over $1B, or about 75% of all cleantech venture funding.
- Public grants play an important role in sustaining cleantech companies. Public grants are the most common investment type for cleantech companies in Canada. We found 133 unique companies that were successful in securing grant funding. 87 of these companies have yet to raise a venture round, suggesting that public funding is vital to their survival.
For a detailed look at cleantech investment over the past five years, join me each Wednesday from May 19th to June 2nd for a live presentation and interactive discussion series on Canada’s clean growth economy. The series will dig into the trends identified above and a lot more, covering the key cleantech verticals and companies that are raising the most capital and what this means for Canada’s clean growth economy.
The series also identifies the Canadian cleantech disruptors powering the global low-carbon economy and highlights insights and recommendations for making Canada a global leader in developing, adopting and scaling low-carbon technologies.
Register for the series now and stay tuned for more updates and insights next week.