Alberta venture capital investment poised to break record again

In Canada's largest oil and gas producing province, investors who have been made wealthy by the energy sector are starting to open their pockets to a budding local tech industry.

CALGARY -- In Canada's largest oil and gas producing province, investors who have been made wealthy by the energy sector are starting to open their pockets to a budding local tech industry.

For years, Alberta's startup technology sector has complained of a lack of access to homegrown venture capital. Tech entrepreneurs in Alberta have historically had better luck going to Silicon Valley for funding than trying to raise money locally.

But that's starting to change. Alberta's tech sector broke an all-time record for venture capital investment in 2020, closing $455 million in deals.

And though full-year figures will not be publicly available until March, Alberta government figures show that as of September 2021, the province had already surpassed 2020's record for venture capital dollars invested by 5.5 per cent.

"We're waiting to get the final results for all of 2021, but it looks like it's going to be a significant increase, with a new record," said Doug Schweitzer, the province's Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation.

Whatever the final dollar figure turns out to be, at least half of that funding will likely still have originated outside of the province, particularly from U.S.-based investors, said Zack Storms, founder of Startup TNT -- an Edmonton-based non-profit that works to stimulate investment in the tech sector.