The annual Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) Awards recognized the deals, dealmakers, and community service of Canada’s venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms at the Invest Canada ‘25 conference in Calgary this morning.
CVCA crowned the winners of its Regional Impact, Community Leadership, and coveted Deal of the Year awards as conference attendees grappled with the industry’s weak performance and uncertain future. With the exception of the Community Leadership Award, each award is evaluated by the CVCA awards committee based on industry performance and impact over the year.
Real Ventures co-founder John Stokes was recognized for his firm playing an “instrumental role in energizing the vibrant ecosystem we see today.”
Pender Ventures won the 2025 VC Deal of the Year award for its investment in fellow Vancouver-based firm Copperleaf Technologies. Copperleaf’s $1-billion go-private deal with Industrial and Financial Systems (IFS) last year resulted in Pender achieving a 42.9x multiple on invested capital (MOIC) as well as a 30.9 percent internal rate of return (IRR) stemming from its 2010 Series B investment, according to the CVCA.
Montréal-based Novacap was awarded the 2025 PE Deal of the Year Award for its multiple investments in Montréal FinTech company Nuvei. Much like Pender and Copperleaf, Novacap’s investment was rewarded when Nuvei agreed to be purchased by American private equity firm Advent International for $6.3 billion USD, joining the 2024 go-private wave. CVCA highlighted how Novacap retained a portion of its existing Nuvei stake through the transaction, and invested new capital from its latest flagship fund.
For those operating on the global stage, the 2025 VC Global Dealmaker Award went to Vancouver’s Vanedge Capital Partners, and the 2025 PE Global Dealmaker Award went to Toronto-based Clairvest Group for the second year in a row.
Vanedge was awarded for its investment in Chicago, Illinois-based investment research platform Tegus, which realized a 4.2x MOIC and a 44.4 percent IRR when Tegus was acquired by its competitor AlphaSense last year.
Meanwhile, Clairvest once again profited from an investment in a waste company. Waste Management’s acquisition of Winters Bros. Waste Systems of Long Island in July 2024 realized a 7.5x MOIC and a 24 percent IRR for Clairvest. Last year, Clairvest won the same award for its investment in New Jersey waste management company Arrowhead Environmental Partners.
CVCA also recognized three VC and three PE firms across the country with the Regional Impact Award. The winners positioned exiting portfolio companies to make meaningful impacts within their communities and broader business ecosystems.
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The VC Regional Impact Award winners included Vistara Growth for Western Canada with its investment in Zafin, First Ascent Ventures in Central Canada for its investment in compliance software firm Assent, and Active Impact Investments in for its investment in Atlantic Canada’s Jaza Energy
On the PE side, Novacap took home a second award, winning the Central Canada Regional Impact Award for its investment in Plusgrade. PFM Capital won the Prairies award for its investment in All-Fab Group, and Ironbridge Equity Partners nabbed the Western Canada award for its investment in Midland Appliance.
On the individual award level, Real Ventures co-founder and managing partner John Stokes took home the 2025 Barry Gekiere Lifetime Legacy Award for his firm playing an “instrumental role in energizing the vibrant ecosystem we see today.”
CVCA noted Stokes’ role in catalyzing numerous startup networks, including co-founding the OSMO Foundation, which owned and operated Montréal startup hub Notman House up until it defaulted on its mortgage debts in late 2023. Around the same time, Stokes won the Community Builder of the Decade Award at the Startup Community Awards.
Meanwhile, Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund senior director and Thin Air Labs founding member Crystal Phillips received the 2025 Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award, which acknowledges the commitment of time and effort to an organization or cause over several years.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 19 years old, Philips co-founded the Branch Out Neurological Foundation to address the underfunding of non-pharmaceutical solutions to neurological disorders.The foundation has raised over $5 million and funded hundreds of research grants.
This year’s awards and Invest Canada conference will be the last for CVCA CEO Kim Furlong, who announced plans to step down from her post this summer as the organization nears the completion of its second consecutive three-year plan under her watch.
Feature image courtesy CVCA.