CIBC Tech & Innovation Market Update – February 2021

Welcome to the official newsletter of CIBC’s Tech & Innovation Capital Markets group

A curated monthly report to keep our readers abreast on relevant and recent developments within the Canadian tech ecosystem


Canadian technology sector performance and valuation

A line graph showing Canadian technology sector performance and valuation

 
EV / NTM revenue multiples 1 LTM sector price performance 1
A bar graph showing EV / NTM revenue multiples A bar graph showing LTM sector price performance

Source: FactSet and Pitchbook; as at February 28, 2021; in C$ unless otherwise noted.
1 Please refer to the back page for technology group constituents.

 

Canadian Venture Capital market update

$746M

(vs. $541M in January-21)
Aggregate deal value

36

(vs. 16 in January-21)
Number of deals

$25M

(vs. $28M in January-21)
Avg. deal value

Ontario

($254M / 10)
Most active province by count ($ / #)

British Columbia

($361M / 8)
Most active province by value ($ / #)

Software

(45.9% of funds raised)
Most active sector(s)

 

Noteworthy Canadian deals

Company Size Sub-sector Lead investors
Fraction logo C$289M FinTech Impression ventures logo
Top hat logo US$130M Software Georgian partners logo
Symend logo C$54M Software Inovia logo
 

T&I @ CIBC

Deal announcement – CIBC Global Investment Banking

Farmers Edge - $125 million IPO joint bookrunner, February 2021

Farmers Edge – $125 million initial public offering

Farmers Edge is a global leader in digital agriculture delivering cutting-edge solutions powered by a unique combination of field-centric data, artificial intelligence, and complete integration.

Deal announcement – CIBC Innovation Banking

Bloomerang - $33 million Growth capital, February 2021

Bloomerang, Inc. – $33 million growth capital

Bloomerang, a leading provider of cloud-based donor management and fundraising software for small and mid-size nonprofits, delivers easy-to-use tools that help clients improve donor retention and increase donor engagement.

 

Podcasts

CIBC The Holler podcast logo

Navigating through a tempest – a discussion on the DRAM and memory market

 

Technology & Innovation in‘sites’ with CIBC Equity Research

T&I ‘Bits & Bytes’

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Data supports strong GMV growth Q1

This blog reveals that Y/Y web traffic growth to e-commerce platforms has picked up so far in Q1 (to an average of 41% growth) relative to Q4 (38%).

Read the full article here.

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Aussie news blackout – Australian government takes on Facebook

The Australian government was ready to pick a fight and Facebook didn’t back down.

Read the full article here.

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Currency futures – central banks accelerate push into digital currencies

The conversation surrounding digital currencies has never been louder.

Read the full article here.

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Small cap vs. Big tech – vaccine optimism powers Russell 2000 to highs

Technology companies saw some of the largest stock returns through the pandemic, which should not come as a surprise given that their products kept businesses running and kept people connected and entertained while the majority of the economy stayed home.

Read the full article here.

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Requesting your data – biannual Amazon report highlights rising government data requests

In addition to Q4 earnings and a CEO change, Amazon also published its biannual Transparency report, a summary of the data it provides in response to government requests.

Read the full article here.

Stay informed. Request access to CIBC Capital Markets Research Central here.

 

Recent technology news

“Email from Jeff Bezos to employees”

Read the full article at Amazon.

“Data governance: the next big ESG controversy”

“Historically, mindshare in corporate sustainability has focused on the “E” within ESG, that is, recognition for the environment and the push to protect natural resources and reduce carbon emissions.

Read the full article at Forbes.

“Why are Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos so interested in space?”

“Why do the world’s two richest men want to get off the planet so badly?”

Read the full article at New York Times.

“10 breakthrough technologies 2021”

“This list marks 20 years since we began compiling an annual selection of the year’s most important technologies. Some, such as mRNA vaccines, are already changing our lives, while others are still a few years off.”

Read the full article at MIT Technology Review.

 

Tech & Innovation Key Contacts

Roman Dubczak
Deputy Chair
Kathy Butler
Vice Chair and Head of CIBC Capital Markets – B.C.
Emilie Bissonnette
Managing Director, Global Investment Banking
Frazer Wong
Executive Director, Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Mark McQueen
President and Executive Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Mark Usher
Executive Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Robert Rosen
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Julia Kassam
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Paul McKinlay
Vice-President and Head of U.S. Origination, Innovation Banking
Amy Olah
Managing Director and Head of Canadian Origination, Innovation Banking
Eric Laflamme
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Joe Timlin
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Rob Magwood
Managing Director, Equity Capital Markets
Daniel Lee
Managing Director, Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Stephen Redding
Managing Director and Head

Canadian Technology Constituents

High-Growth Canadian SaaS – Ceridian, Descartes, Docebo, Kinaxis, Lightspeed, Shopify

Large Cap Canadian Tech – Altus, Blackberry, CGI, Constellation Software, Enghouse, Evertz Technologies, Nuvei, OpenText, Real Matters

Mid Cap Canadian Tech – Absolute Software, Calian, Celestica, Computer Modelling Group, Dye & Durham, Sierra Wireless

Small Cap Canadian Tech – Alithya, Baylin, BBTV, Blackline Safety, Converge Technologies, Optiva, Patriot One, Pivotree, Quarterhill, TECSYS, Terago, Sangoma, Sylogist, Vecima, Vitalhub

RELATED INSIGHTS: Tech & Innovation Market Update

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