<strong>Innovation</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>: A <strong>Call</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Action</strong>Figure 7.1 Funding Chain by Stage of Development and Size of InvestmentPublic MarketsMergers & Acquisitions$10M +Later StageVenture Capital$1M <strong>to</strong>$10MEarly StageVenture Capital$100K<strong>to</strong> $1MBusiness AngelsAngel GroupsUp <strong>to</strong>$200KSource: The Panel.“Friends & Family”Government / universitiesSeed Pro<strong>to</strong>types Start-up Other EarlyStageLater stage/ExpansionMatureThe nature, the causes and even the existenceof a risk capital gap in <strong>Canada</strong> are the subjec<strong>to</strong>f considerable debate. The Panel’sconsultations nevertheless revealed a strongconsensus within the community of venturecapitalists and entrepreneurs in R&D-based andtechnologically advanced sec<strong>to</strong>rs that gaps existalong the funding chain. Some recurring themesfrom the consultations included the following:there is a need <strong>to</strong> improve access <strong>to</strong> seedcapitalangel networks in <strong>Canada</strong> are not as welldeveloped as in the USCanadian companies are not as well financedas their US counterpartsforeign funds are present in adisproportionate share of Canadian exitsCanadian firms are often forced <strong>to</strong>, or choose<strong>to</strong>, go public <strong>to</strong>o early.Interviews with managers of venture capitalfunds and entrepreneurs, conducted on behalfof the Panel, highlighted the problems causedby the relatively small size of Canadian venturecapital investment funds. Subscale size limits theability of Canadian fund managers <strong>to</strong> followfirms through <strong>to</strong> maturity as the size ofsuccessive financing rounds increases. Thisadversely affects financing opportunities forinnovative firms in <strong>Canada</strong> and hurts theperformance of Canadian venture capital funds.Moreover, in the EKOS survey conducted for thePanel (see Chapter 5), lack of access <strong>to</strong> sourcesof finance was most frequently identified as themain obstacle <strong>to</strong> firms’ R&D activities.7-12
Filling the GapsSuch concerns are identified in the BusinessDevelopment Bank of <strong>Canada</strong>’s (BDC) VentureCapital Industry Review, released in February2011. 7 That review concluded that theCanadian venture capital industry was“broken.” Low returns have caused privateinves<strong>to</strong>rs <strong>to</strong> leave the venture capital marketand, according <strong>to</strong> the BDC, it will takesubstantial changes <strong>to</strong> encourage re-entry. Asshown in Figure 7.2, the report identified a“vicious” cycle in the Canadian venture capitalindustry that contributes <strong>to</strong> its poorperformance, including:a shortage of serial entrepreneurs whobecome angel inves<strong>to</strong>rssubscale venture capital fundslimited pool of experienced, high-qualityventure capital fund managersover-investment in early-stage andinadequate follow-on investmentweak linkages <strong>to</strong> global experts, markets andbusinesses.Others consulted by the Panel argue that theindustry is in a cyclical downturn and inves<strong>to</strong>rsare avoiding early-stage technology companiesbecause the risk-adjusted returns are betterelsewhere. The BDC has concluded that simplyinjecting additional capital would not improvethe industry’s performance and that the key <strong>to</strong>res<strong>to</strong>ring faith in venture capital as an asset classis <strong>to</strong> bring the industry <strong>to</strong> a state of profitability.Some economists have attributed the poorperformance of the private venture capitalmarket <strong>to</strong> “crowding out” by the laboursponsoredventure capital funds (LSVCFs) (see,for example, Cumming and MacIn<strong>to</strong>sh 2006; andBrander, Egan and Hellmann 2008). LSVCFs,which accounted for about 20 percent of venturecapital investments in 2010 (CVCA 2010), arefunded by small “retail” inves<strong>to</strong>rs who receive taxincentives from the federal and some provincialgovernments. Recognizing that they vary inperformance, some LSVCFs have poormanagement incentive structures and haveexhibited poor performance, 8 perhaps due inpart <strong>to</strong> overly broad mandates encompassingmultiple objectives such as regional development.Investment activity by retail funds has beenscaled back in many provinces and restructured inothers in order <strong>to</strong> promote better outcomes.High-growth firms can also obtain fundingthrough the TSX Venture market, and this mayreduce the number of high-quality investmentsthat seek venture capital funding in <strong>Canada</strong>,contributing also <strong>to</strong> the low rate of return in theventure capital industry (Carpentier, Cummingand Suret 2010).The issues affecting the performance of the riskcapital markets in <strong>Canada</strong> are complex, and itwill take time <strong>to</strong> resolve them. Governmentintervention should be undertaken in a cautiousand carefully structured manner <strong>to</strong> yield positiveoutcomes for the industry and avoid unintendedharm — an issue that is taken up below. Thenext section reviews in more detail the issuesfacing the angel investment and later-stageventure capital segments of the risk capitalmarket.7 The BDC is a financial institution owned by the Government of <strong>Canada</strong>. Its mission is <strong>to</strong> “help create and developCanadian businesses through financing, venture capital and consulting services, with a focus on small and medium-sizedenterprises” (http://www.bdc.ca). Note that the BDC is not the federal government’s sole mechanism <strong>to</strong> supplementventure capital markets. The Export Development Corporation (EDC), in fulfilling its mandate <strong>to</strong> help Canadian exportersand inves<strong>to</strong>rs expand their international business, manages a portfolio of equity investments focussed on next-generationexporters, with a <strong>to</strong>tal investment value of $298 million. Farm Credit <strong>Canada</strong>, a Crown corporation, established FCCVentures in 2002 and since then has provided over $70 million in venture capital financing <strong>to</strong> small and medium-sizedbusinesses in areas such as agricultural biotech.8 For the latest performance data for captive/evergreen funds, which consist primarily of LSVCFs, see the press release of<strong>Canada</strong>’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association dated May 24, 2011 (available at: http://www.cvca.ca/news/).7-13