The venture capital investor didn’t bother trying to hide his contempt for my theory. ``It’s just because of one deal,’’ he shot back as we chatted last week.
I’d just said that the investment, entrepreneurship and innovation community in Atlantic Canada was at a watershed moment, that the environment had changed just in the past year and that the change was permanent. For example, I cited Thomson Reuters data showing the total VC investments in Nova Scotia had averaged $17.5 million in 2009 and 2010. Already in 2011, six deals have been announced worth more than $42 million. So, with more than a full quarter left, it appears that Nova Scotia’s high-growth companies will receive twice the funding they received in 2009, which was an exemplary year. And that is just Nova Scotia – companies in the other three Atlantic Provinces continue to draw impressive investment.
All of which drew the response from my VC friend, that the figures were skewed by one deal. That one deal was Toronto-based Northwater Capital’s $30 million investment in Unique Solutions of Dartmouth. My response to his criticism is there is no reason to strip out that one deal, because the fact that Unique attracted that funding shows the quality of company now being developed in Atlantic Canada. And even if you do subtract the Unique Solutions deal, we already have $16 million in investments with three months left in the year.
I believe fervently that we’re in a new phase of developing high-growth companies in the region. The blazing billboard that advertises the new epoch was Fredericton-based Radian6’s $326 million sale to salesforce.com of San Francisco, a landmark deal by any definition. What’s interesting is no one is treating it as a one-off. It’s logical to assume that the coming years will produce more deals of similar, maybe even greater, value.
Here are four signs that the landscape is changing in Atlantic Canada:
The quality of the deals: If we break down that $42 million of funding announced in Nova Scotia this year, about $37 million or 88% of it came from private VC firms based in Toronto, Montreal and San Francisco. There was a time when government agencies would back a local company and lobby for outside co-investors. It’s more common now for government agencies to complement private capital raised by a company. GoInstant of Halifax raised $1.7 million last week, only $100,000 of which came from Innovacorp. After it became one of four Canadian companies accepted into Microsoft's BizSpark One program, social media analysis company Lymbix of Moncton raised $1.35 million – every nickel from GrowthWorks Atlantic. Companies like Enovex of Saint John and Neurodyn of Charlottetown are on international roadshows to meet potential investors.
This demonstrates that we have a greater number of tremendous companies than we had a year or two ago.
We’re moving beyond provincialism: Invest Atlantic, which will be held Sept 26 at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax, is a shining example of the more regional approach we’ve adopted developing innovative companies. All the provinces are well represented, and 15 percent of the speakers come from outside the region. Invest Atlantic is following a tradition laid down by Acoa and the First Angel Network of ignoring provincial boundaries when developing this important sector of the economy, which brings us to . . .
The Creation of Regional New Institutions: The Regional Venture Capital Fund, to which Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have each committed $15 million, is proceeding. The Atlantic Canada Venture Gateway, which grew out of Memorial University’s Genesis Group, is now working with companies around the region. Slowly, steadily, even our public institutions are becoming more regional in their outlook.
Increasing Entrepreneurship at Universities: Dalhousie University opened the Halifax Marine Research Institute in June and has beefed up its Industry Liaison and Innovation Office, hiring Stephen Hartlen from Innovacorp as an assistant vice-president. UNB has its Activator program, UPEI's Three Oaks Innovations and Memorial the Marine Institute. Even the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design is highlighting commercialization and entrepreneurship through its Centre for Cultural Technology & Innovation.
That’s four signs of change. None of them was on the horizon even two years ago. But they are now becoming ingrained in the eco-system and they are fertilizing young companies. At Entrevestor, we plan to chronicle the development of this sector and to further its growth by providing the information that key players need. We hope you’ll join us as we grow with this exciting sector.