I N V E S TME N T ACT I V I T Y I N 2 0 2 0 Spo t l i ght on At l ant i c Canada
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community that we need to do more to ensure equity among founders. Entrevestor found that only 0.7% of startups are led by Black Atlantic Canadians and 1.6% by Indigenous Peoples. About 13% are led by im- migrants who identify as visible mi- norities. Some 14% of the companies are led by female CEOs or Co–CEOs, and these companies raised a paltry $5.3 million in 2020 – roughly 3% of the private capital raised in 2020 (and $1.2 million of that came from the founders themselves).
2Market Oceans and Innovacorp’s Accelerate Oceans. Entrevestor re- ported 101 oceantech companies in 2020, one-third more than the pre- vious year. The major concern about the oceantech sector lies in funding. Other than the $10 million that St. John’s- based Kraken Robot- ics raised in the stock market, oceantech companies raised only $2.1 million in equity financing. This sector needs to attract more invest- ment capital or it will be known as nothing more than a recipient of government largesse.
were closed for most of the year due to the pandemic. Cape Breton experienced a sudden blossoming of an industrial and agricultural bio- tech community as Innovacorp and the Verschuren Centre attracted about a dozen companies to set up operations in Sydney. More than 100 companies failed in 2020, but most were companies we’d listed as ‘zombies’ by Entreves- tor the previous year. Only five had raised equity capital. Atlantic Cana- da is developing a global reputation as a centre for ocean technology, and the oceantech ecosystem con- tinues to evolve with the launch of such programs as CDL Oceans, Lab-
There are steps being taken to improve the ecosystem, though
Finally, there’s a consensus in the
202 1 ANNUAL REPORT ON ANGEL I NVEST I NG I N CANADA The Chang i ng Landscape
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