CIBC Tech & Innovation Market Update – April 2025

Canadian technology sector performance and valuation

Source: FactSet and Pitchbook as at March 31, 2025; in C$ unless otherwise noted. 
1 Please refer to the end of the document for technology group constituents.

Canadian venture capital market monthly recap

March 2025

Aggregate deal value

$151M
(vs. $334M in Feb-25)²
YTD: $884M
(vs. $635M YTD-24)³

Number of deals

38
(vs. 29 in Feb-25)
YTD: 147
(vs. 392 YTD-24)

Avg. deal value

$8M
(vs. $21M in Feb-25)²
YTD: $13M
(vs. $5M YTD-24)³

Most active province by value ($ / #)

Ontario
($54M / 19)
YTD: Ontario
($629M / 63)

Most active province by count ($ / #)

Ontario
($54M / 19)
YTD: Ontario
($629M / 63)

Most active sector

Software
(63% of funds raised)
YTD: Software
(73%)

2 20 deals in Mar-25 and 13 deals in Feb-25 with no announced values are omitted from deal values.
3 81 deals in YTD-25 and 264 deals in YTD-24 with no announced values are omitted from deal values. 

Noteworthy Canadian deals

Company Size Financing round Sub-sector Lead investors
Novarc C$50M Series B AI Robotics EDC
Nanoprecise US$38M Series C Energy Maintenance Yaletown Partners / BDC
Augmenta US$10M Seed Funding Software - Electric Design Prelude Ventures

T&I @ CIBC

Deal activity

Phoenix

Undisclosed
Debt Financing
CIBC Innovation Banking acted as Sole Provider

Phoenix – Debt Financing

Phoenix has closed $50 million CAD in equity and debt financing. Boston’s Valspring Capital led the all-primary equity portion, while CIBC Innovation Banking provided the venture debt.

SpryPoint

Undisclosed
Credit Facility
CIBC Innovation Banking acted as Sole Provider

SpryPoint – Credit Facility

CIBC Innovation Banking provided a growth-focused credit facility to SpryPoint Services Inc., a leading provider of software for public utilities.

MediSpend

Undisclosed
Debt Financing
CIBC Innovation Banking acted as Sole Provider

MediSpend - Debt Financing

CIBC Innovation Banking provided credit facilities to support MediSpend’s acquisition of Real Life Sciences (“RLS”), a leading provider of advanced anonymization and redaction solutions for clinical trial data.

Technology & Innovation in‘sites’ with CIBC Equity Research

T&I 'Bits and Bytes'

Tax wars - India scraps its DST, will Canada follow suit?

India has scrapped its digital services tax (DST) ahead of U.S. trade talks. Canada’s DST has been a contentious issue in the U.S. and President Trump has called out Canada’s DST several times since taking office. Canadian companies operating in the U.S. could face doubled taxation if Trump invokes a never-before-used clause under Section 891 of the U.S. tax code in response to the DST. In the event of renewed Canada-U.S. trade negotiations, we expect the DST is a likely concession.

Let’s build – Canada’s push for sovereign AI data centres

TELUS announced plans to launch its AI as a Software business, equipping its Quebec datacentre with NVIDIA GPUs with an aim to provide computing power for AI development projects. Lower energy prices and a cooler climate make Canada an attractive location for datacentres; and against the backdrop of an increasingly tense geopolitical environment, demand for sovereign AI computing power is growing in Canada, especially in industries sensitive to data security concerns. The Federal government has begun allocating funds from its C$2.4B AI initiative, with ISED announcing the launch of the AI Compute Access Fund earlier this month.

Buy Canadian – Take-private transactions lead volume in Q1

Canadian M&A activity picked up in Q1/25, led by the pending take-private of Converge at an enterprise value of C$1.3B. According to Bloomberg data, Canadian technology M&A deal values grew by almost 100% Y/Y in Q1, while deal count fell by 22%. In the U.S., we observe valuations per employee rise, as recent tech companies acquired for US$100MM or more had a median of just 100 employees as tech companies’ focus on efficiency and hiring remains slow. We expect Canadian M&A could continue in 2025, with a weaker CAD and lack of tariff clarity making Canadian software increasingly attractive M&A targets for U.S. firms.

Consulting in the crosshairs – DOGE sets its sight on government consulting contracts

Elon Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been making waves over the last month since the Trump Administration took office. DOGE has cancelled a number of federal initiatives and government contracts, with an aim of reining in federal government spending. Most recently, government consulting contracts have come under fire.

Recent technology news

Fashion giant H&M plans to create 30 digital clones of its models this year, aiming to explore the potential of artificial intelligence in their marketing. The announcement has sparked debate within the fashion community, highlighting the delicate balance between innovation and the preservation of human artistry and labor.

Read the full article at CNN.

California has significantly expanded its electric vehicle charging infrastructure, now boasting over 178,549 public and shared private chargers, which exceeds the number of gasoline pumps by 48%. With a strong commitment to clean transportation, the state has invested $1.4 billion in enhancing its EV charging and hydrogen fueling network, while also providing grants and rebates to support low-income residents in adopting EV technology.

Read the full article at TechSpot.

In our daily lives, we often overlook the essential role helium plays in various technologies, from MRI machines to satellite instruments. As demand for helium continues to rise, particularly in semiconductor and electric vehicle battery manufacturing, the urgency to find sustainable solutions becomes increasingly critical. The ongoing exploration for new helium reserves and advancements in helium recovery systems may offer a glimmer of hope in addressing this looming supply crisis.

Read the full article at BBC.

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Tech & Innovation Key Contacts

Roman Dubczak
Deputy Chair
Kevin Li
Managing Director and Head, Global Investment Banking

Global Investment Banking

Kathy Butler
Vice Chair and Head of CIBC Capital Markets – B.C.
Colin Ryan
Managing Director, Head of Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Adam Noily
Managing Director, Head of U.S. Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Daniel Lee
Managing Director, Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Emilie Bissonnette
Managing Director, Global Investment Banking
Rob Magwood
Managing Director, Equity Capital Markets
Frazer Wong
Executive Director, Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking

Innovation Banking

Paul McKinlay
Executive Managing Director and Co-Head
Patrick Martin
Executive Managing Director and Co-Head
Amy Olah
Managing Director, Head of Canada & US West Coast Venture Banking, Innovation Banking

Canadian Technology Constituents

High-Growth Canadian SaaS
  • Coveo
  • Dayforce
  • Descartes
  • Docebo
  • Kinaxis
  • Lightspeed
  • Shopify
  • Thinkific
Large Cap Canadian Tech
  • Altus
  • Blackberry
  • Celestica
  • CGI
  • Constellation Software
  • Converge Technologies
  • Dye and Durham
  • Enghouse
  • Evertz Technologies
  • Nuvei
  • OpenText
  • Softchoice
  • Well Health
Mid Cap Canadian Tech
  • Calian
  • Computer Modelling Group
  • D2L
  • Kneat
  • Payfare
  • Real Matters
  • TECSYS
  • Tiny
  • Vecima
Small Cap Canadian Tech
  • Alithya
  • Baylin Tech
  • Blackline Safety
  • Optiva
  • Pivotree
  • Quarterhill
  • Sangoma
  • Sylogist
  • Terago
  • VerticalScope
  • Vitalhub
  • Voxtur

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