Atlantic Canadian startups raised about $35 million in venture capital in the third quarter of 2025, says Canada’s main VC body, which is small change compared to the total coming for the fourth quarter.

The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, known as CVCA, on Wednesday released its VC data for the first nine months of the calendar year. It showed the four eastern provinces amassed a total of $96 million in VC funding in the January-September period. We subtracted the $61 million reported in the first six months to come up with the third-quarter total of $35 million.

Though we don’t know what the VC totals will be for the final quarter of 2025, we do know they will include two mega deals from Newfoundland and Labrador. In October, Spellbook, which makes AI products for law firms, announced a US$50 million funding round, then this week Colab Software, which makes AI-driven collaboration software for engineers, unveiled a US$72 million Series C round. Those deals alone will ensure the region will book more than C$170 million in the fourth quarter.

The latest CVCA report shows Nova Scotia accounted for five VC deals in the third quarter, worth a total of $33 million. There were also five deals in New Brunswick, though their total value was only $2 million. There were no deals reported in Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador in the third quarter.

Among the Nova Scotian deals, the largest was a US$9.1 million (C$12.6 million) round by Mara Renewables, the Halifax company that produces omega-3 products from algae. The investment came from S2G Ventures.

Halifax-based medical data provider Blue Charm Adherence raised a $4 million seed round co-led by Crédit Mutuel Equity of France and Invest Nova Scotia.

Other notable rounds that were publicly announced were: a $1.83 million pre-seed round by Voltai, a Dartmouth-based cleantech company developing ocean and renewable energy technologies; a $1.7 million round by Dartmouth-based RFINE Biomass Solutions, which upcycles spent coffee grounds; and a $1.1 million pre-seed round reported by Gia, a Halifax startup that provides AI-driven growth tools for consultants and boutique professional services firms.

The CVCA data and the two big deals from St. John’s show that Atlantic Canada will report at least $266 million in VC deals in 2025, which is the most since St. John’s-based Verafin closed its record-setting $515 million equity-and-debt deal in 2019. The top year for VC funding so far in this decade was 2021, when Atlantic Canadian startups raised $256 million.

The CVCA report also mentioned a couple of Atlantic Canadian funding bodies. The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation was named the second most active “government fund” in the first nine months, as it was involved in 10 deals worth a total of $5 million. Invest Nova Scotia placed eighth on this list, participating in seven deals worth $38 million.

For Canada overall, startups raised a total of $1.8 billion across 123 deals in the third quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to $4.9 billion from 386 deals. A statement from the organization said Canada’s venture market so far this year has been operating above pre-pandemic levels in total dollars invested, even though deal counts remain slightly lower.

“Canada’s venture investment ecosystem is finding its footing in a more disciplined cycle,” said David Kornacki, Director of Data and Product at the CVCA. “Investors are deploying capital with greater precision, favouring companies that demonstrate strong fundamentals and scalability. The rise in average deal size and stability in total dollars invested suggest a market that’s selective but confident.”