VC exits show year-over-year improvement as acquisitions ramp up: CVCA report

The disclosed value of VC exits in Canada has more than doubled so far compared to last year as the ecosystem eagerly anticipates an influx of capital in the coming years.

The total amount invested hit $4.3 billion CAD across 397 deals through the first three quarters of 2026.

According to the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association’s Q3 2026 report on Canadian venture deals, mergers and acquisitions accounted for 26 out of the 28 venture-backed exits during the year’s first three quarters. There were only 29 exits in total last year. Proceeds totalled $744 million CAD across 10 disclosed transactions, which is more than double the $355 million in disclosed exit value for all of 2025.

But while 2026 venture-backed merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has already surpassed 2025 numbers, last year was far below 2023 and 2024, which both recorded more than 30 exits.

Some of the largest acquisitions included an $850-million CAD go-private deal for Calgary’s Blackline Safety and the reported $400-million USD purchase of Montréal amateur sports streamer LiveBarn. Meanwhile, one of 2026’s largest exits—the semiconductor company Taalas, which chip giant AMD has agreed to buy for $2.9 billion USD—has yet to close, meaning that it’s not included in CVCA’s exit total. The $4.75-billion USD deal to acquire CoolIT Systems, which passed from KKR to Ecolab, was classified as a private equity transaction, and was also therefore not added to the total.

“Having more liquidity in the market is overall positive,” said CVCA director of data and product David Kornacki in an interview on Monday, adding that seeing that liquidity reinvested in the market is positive as well. He added that this facilitates returning capital to limited partners and raising new funds.

No venture-backed initial public offerings (IPOs) have been recorded since 2023, the report says. That absence has created knock-on effects for Canada’s VC industry in general. While companies stay private longer, it takes longer to return capital to limited partners (LPs), making it more challenging to fundraise as a general partner (GP) and leaving less money out there for emerging managers.

Kornacki said that alternative routes to the public markets, like reverse takeovers and special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deals, have become more active exit avenues this year. Xanadu and General Fusion both made public debuts via SPAC to raise more capital for their quantum and fusion technologies; space communications company NorthStar went public earlier this year, and aspiring defence prime Juno Industries also listed in October.

“We’re still seeing companies going public, but not through the traditional route anymore,” Kornacki said.

Overall, the report said that capital continued to concentrate around a handful of megadeals larger than $50 million, continuing a trend of deal count dropping every year since 2021.

VC activity was broadly on par with last year’s numbers: the total amount invested hit $4.3 billion CAD across 397 deals through the first three quarters of 2026, which is just one percent less than at this point last year. Notably, the recently announced $7-billion CAD Cohere Series E deal will nearly double that year-to-date total once it closes.

That deal could eventually uplift the growth stage, which faltered this quarter. While early-stage, later-stage, and growth-stage deals were all below their five-year averages, growth stage was the lowest, at 66 percent below its five-year average of $1.16 billion for the first three quarters of the year. At $396 million, growth-stage investment was down 55 percent compared to this point last year.

CVCA has been advocating for an increased focus on growth-stage investment in Canada. The organization recently got its wish when the feds revealed that the majority of a $750-million envelope for its Early and Growth Stage Investment Strategy was earmarked for the “later and growth-stage,” in addition to a new iteration of the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (now called Growth VCCI).

But details remain to be announced for that strategy, and the Growth VCCI funding will likely take at least 12 to 18 months for the capital to reach fund managers.

“It’s too early to expect any immediate improvements,” Kornacki said. “But let’s press on the gas, let’s get this money deployed as quickly as possible.”

Feature image courtesy Chris Robert via Unsplash.