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Calgary tech startups raised $307 million in 2020, an 88% increase from 2019.
According to Hockeystick’s Calgary Tech Report, the prairie city’s ecosystem showed healthy growth across both funding and deal volume in 2020. A total of 34 deals closed in 2020, up by 26 percent from 2019.
“The majority of this increase can be accounted for in the three largest deals in 2020 with two of those deals being in FinTech companies,” said Rob Darling, research partner at Hockeystick. “What we are seeing is a shift in the Calgary ecosystem, showing that it is also a great place to start and grow a FinTech or healthtech company.”
Neo Financial and Symend’s deals represented the largest Series A and B rounds in recent Alberta history.
In its report, Hockeystick attributed Calgary’s solid year of venture activity to the city’s deep talent pool and strong foundation of startup support. Calgary is home to several post-secondary institutions, which are fuelling a pipeline of talent that can be seen in two of the largest deals of the year.
According to data from LinkedIn, 37% of the team at Symend, which raised a $73 million Series B round of funding in May, have graduated or taken courses from Calgary post-secondary institutions. That number is 24% for Neo Financial, which raised a $50 million Series A round of funding over the course of 2020.
Photo by Denisse Leon on Unsplash