1. Expanding the mandate of public matching funds programs to include seed stage VC funds, venture studios, and angel group side car funds. 2. Using public funding to create more, better-capitalised, seed funds. We understand that VCAP typically had a 2:1 matching structure (i.e. $2 of private funds for every $1 of public). Based on our experience with other clients, we believe that it may be possible to exceed this, with a 3:1 ratio or higher. For example, LaunchVic in Melbourne, Australia, has launched several funds at a 3:1 ratio – and has sometimes achieved 6:1 or higher for specialised funds (e.g. Agtech, or female investors). However, to avoid the common problem of investors being ‘pulled later’, we recommend that if public funds are allocated to VCs that operate over multiple stages, a specific portion should be ringfenced for the pre-institutional, pre-seed and seed stages. 3. Infrastructure support for angel groups and emerging funds would strengthen early-stage investment infrastructure and marshall new pools of private capital. In many Canadian ecosystems, high-net-worth individuals are interested in diversifying into early-stage companies but lack the network, structure, and confidence to invest. Supporting early-stage investment infrastructure would enable angel networks and emerging funds with the capacity and resources to mobilize these investors. This foundational infrastructure lowers barriers to entry, improves deal evaluation capacity, and accelerates capital deployment into startups. Investments in operational infrastructure can therefore unlock significant private capital and expand the depth and sophistication of the early-stage funding ecosystem. 4. Establishing additional incentives (e.g. enhanced tax reliefs) to further de-risk seed investment and encourage more high net worth individuals to consider angel investing. NACO has already argued for a national expansion of the Investment Tax Credit Program which currently operates in British Columbia, and Startup Genome has seen similar schemes operate very effectively in
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