Venture Capital funding hit a lull in Atlantic Canada in the first quarter of 2019, according to the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.

The association, known as the CVCA, issued its quarterly data report on Tuesday, showing that Atlantic Canada raised a total of $22.4 million in the three months to March 31. It was a decline from the rabid funding witnessed in 2018, when the region averaged $39.5 million per quarter, according to the CVCA.

The group found that in the first quarter of 2019, Nova Scotian startups raised $16 million in four deals, while New Brunswick startups produced six deals worth $6 million. A single deal in Prince Edward Island was worth $400,000. There were no deals reported in Newfoundland and Labrador.

There were a couple of bright spots in the report. Fredericton was the fourth-most active fundraising centre in the country with six deals. And Nova Scotia averaged $4 million per deal in the quarter – a sign that companies are landing follow-on funding.

The major funding deals announced in the quarter included $2 million raised by Dartmouth-based ocean technology company Global Spatial Technology Solutions. Halifax drug discovery company Appili Therapeutics of Halifax raised $3.6 million, though it may not be included in the CVCA data as it comprised mainly angel funding and the CVCA only tracks VC.

The data for the second quarter will show an improvement because of at least one deal : ABK Biomedical of Halifax raised US$30 million (C$40 million) in April. That round was led by: Cambridge, Mass.-based F-Prime Capital, which is an offshoot of mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments; and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian Medical Systems, a maker of medical software.

The CVCA said the Canadian VC industry overall had a great first quarter. There were 142 deals amounting to $1 billion. It was the fifth billion-dollar quarter since 2013 and the investment total was 48 percent higher than in the same quarter in 2018. There were seven mega-deals (worth $50 million or more) in the first quarter, which accounted for a 57 percent share of all dollars invested, said the CVCA.

Montreal-based Lightspeed POS Inc. completed the largest and only IPO exit since 2017 with a market capitalization of $1.1 billion.

“It’s great to see continued momentum across the Canadian VC industry with this fifth billion-dollar quarter in less than 10 years,” said CVCA Chief Executive Kim Furlong in a statement. “Lightspeed’s exit this quarter is another proud accomplishment for the industry. We will be keeping an eye on the exit environment throughout the remainder of 2019.”