Quebec &
Montreal
Startup
Ecosystem
Part 1 - first findings
October 2023
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2
Source:
North America
Venture capital
investment
activity in North
America has
returned to
pre-pandemic
levels after
a bumper
2021.
VC investment raised by North America HQ
startups
▊ $0M-$1M (pre-seed) ▊ $1M-$4M (seed) ▊ $4M-$15M (series A) ▊ $15M-$40M (series B)
▊ $40–$100M (series C) ▊ $100–$250M ▊ $250M+
Q4
estimate
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Source:
Canada
Canada is the
7th country
globally by VC
investment
since 2019, with
$36B raised.
Quebec accounts for
$ or 26% of
VC investment
raised in Canada.
Top 15 countries by VC investment raised 2019-
H1 2023
Created with
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Source:
In Quebec, 2022 venture capital
investment matched 2021, but has also
slowed down in 2023. Top rounds in Quebec HQ startups since 2019
VC investment raised by startups based in Quebec
▊ $0M-$1M (pre-seed) ▊ $1M-$4M (seed) ▊ $4M-$15M (series A) ▊ $15M-$40M (series B)
▊ $40–$100M (series C) ▊ $100–$250M ▊ $250M+
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Source:
Quebec
Quebec ranks as
the 3rd
Canadian
province for VC
investment
raised since
2019.
.
$4B $ $
$2B $ $ Columbia
$
B
$
c
Alberta
Nova Scotia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Prince Edward Island
VC investment per province by
stage
VC investment since 2019-H1 2023
▊Early stage ▊Breakout stage ▊Late stage
$
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Source:
% Growth
2022
v. 2021
▼–34%
= -5%
▼–49%
▲89%
▲105%
▼–71%
▼–63%
▲10%
Quebec
In 2022 and the
first half of
2023, Quebec
ranks 2nd for
VC investment
raised, above
British
Columbia.
Created with
VC investment in Canadian
provinces
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Source:
Quebec
At least 1K
startups
founded since
2010 have taken
the venture-
backed journey
in : of companies founded in
the year 2015, 104+ have gone on
the VC-backed journey. Of those,
45 have raised a Pre-Seed round,
but no further round. 2 have raised
at least one $100M+round.
Number of startups per cohort and
stage
506 283 143 61 27 10 4 1, 034Total
Created with
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Source:
Montréal $
Capitale-Nationale $
Estrie $161M
Laurentides $140M
Montérégie $136M
Laval $118M
Lanaudière $74M
Centre-du-
Québec
$67M
VC investment (2019-
2023)
Top regions in Quebec
The vast majority of venture capital in
Quebecʼs has been raised in Montréal
VC investment (2019-2023)
▊<$250K ▊$250K-$10M ▊$10M-$100M ▊$100M-$1B ▊>$1B
Created with
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Source:
Montreal
Montreal has
captured close to
80% of VC
activity in
Quebec since
2019.
Created with
VC Investment allocation within
Quebec
Montre
al
Rest of Quebec
82
%
2019
50
%
2020
73
%
2018
86
%
2021
76
%
2022
98
%
2023
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Source:
Montreal
Montreal ranks
as the 19th hub
for VC
investment
raised since
2019 in North
America, right
behind
Vancouver.
Created with
Top North America ecosystems by VC investment raised 2019
-H1 2023
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Source:
Global trailblazers ranking
2022 Trailblazers
Scale lens
This chart shows preliminary benchmarking based
a 360-degree benchmarking done by Dealroom in
Dec 2022.
ecosystems
This lens looks for absolute scale across venture
capital investment, university talent, patent
development, and the number of unicorns and
$1B+ exits minted.
These locations usually have a well-established
venture capital industry and capital markets. The
success of these ecosystems paves the way and
sets the bar for other cities, hence the term
trailblazers.
Montreal ranks 39th worldwide and 16th in North America in a comprehensive
ranking of innovation metrics, ahead of Vancouver.
| Created with .
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Source:
Quebec
Quebec over
indexes in
Energy.
Energy as a
share of
overall venture
capital is
the global
average.
Created with
Venture Capital allocation by amount invested (2019-
H1 2023)
Global as % of total Quebec as % of
total
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Source:
13% of VC investment in Quebec was
raised by Climate tech startups, a
higher share than global and North
America average.
Climate VC investment as % of
total
VC investment (2019-H1 2023)
Top rounds by climate tech startups based in
Quebec
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Source:
Montreal
Montreal
companies have
filed 13K
patents, with
most patents
filed in Energy.
Selected North American hubs by number of active
patents
Created with
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