Insights: Canadian VC & PE Fundraising Intentions

The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) conducted a survey of its members in Q42024 to get a pulse of the industry fundraising expectations over the next 18 months. The findings are summarized below and can provide an insightful glimpse into trends we can expect in the upcoming fundraising environment.

17% of the firms surveyed were Private Equity firms, and the remaining 83% were Venture Capital firms.

All surveyed firms are either currently fundraising or plan to start fundraising in the next 18 months.

Overview of Current and Planned Fundraising

Among the VC firms, we have:

• 74% currently fundraising

  • Out of these, 29% are first-time fundraisers targeting $335M

  • The remaining 71% are firms that have fundraised before targeting $793M

• 26% plan on fundraising in the next 18 months

  • These VC firms are firms with prior fundraising experience targeting to raise $880M.

For the PE firms, we have:

• 50% that are currently fundraising

  • Of these, 50% are first-time fundraisers targeting $200M

  • The remaining 50% are firms that have fundraised before targeting $250M

• 50% plan on fundraising in the next 18 months

  • These PE firms are firms with prior fundraising experience targeting to raise $800M

Changes to Fund Sizes

The 18 firms that had closed previous funds raised a total of $1.6B. These firms have a collective fundraising target of $2.7B over the next 18 months.

With the inclusion of the $535M being targeted by first time funds, these 23 firms are seeking to raise $1.7B more compared to their previously closed total.

VC Stage Focus for New Funds Being Raised*

14 out of 19 funds being raised in the next 18 months will be targeting investments in seed and early stage companies.

PE Stage Focus for New Funds Being Raised*

PE Funds surveyed, on the other hand, are primarily stage agnostic, with only one fund focused on minority investments.

Sector and Verticals Focus for New Funds

7 out of 23 firms surveyed are sector agnostic about the funds they plan to raise, while among the remaining firms, Cleantech and Life Sciences sectors are the main focus for the majority of the firms.

Among the verticals, ClimateTech and SaaS are verticals with the highest Fund Target Size while SaaS and Artificial Intelligence/​Machine Learning have the most number of funds targeting them.

Expectation of LP Attrition

70% of firms surveyed do not expect any LP attrition, while the remaining firms expect LP attrition mostly from high net-worth individuals, followed by pension funds.