Venture Capital: An Overview and Look at the Growing Alberta Landscape

Written by Jordan Smith
JD Candidate 2026 | UCalgary Law

 
Venture Capital (VC) Overview
 
Definition of VC
Venture Capital is a form of private equity (for more information on the differences between various types of equity and debt financing, see the BVC blog) and a type of financing for start-up companies and small businesses with long-term growth potential.[1] Venture capitalists provide value through financing, as well as technological, managerial, or strategic support.
 
Often, venture capitalists provide business expertise and experience to founders who may possess more technical expertise and require guidance to scale their company. VC represents a crucial source of financing for start-up companies, especially those who may not be able to access traditional bank loans, capital markets, or other debt instruments.[2]
 
Today, a large proportion of VC investments are focused on companies developing artificial intelligence (AI) for various applications such as healthcare, autonomous vehicles, and clean technology.
 
History of Venture Capital
The true origin of VC is contested and may trace all the way back to when Christopher Columbus was sponsored by Queen Isabella of Spain for his voyage to the Americas. Since this was a high-risk venture, in return for her funding, the Queen received 90% of the eventual profits from his discovery of the West Indies.[3]
 
Flash forward approximately 450 years, and we find the more agreed upon inception of modern VC. In 1946, Harvard Business School professor General Georges F. Doriot, colloquially the “Father of Venture Capital”, and his co-founders created the American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC).[4], [5] The ARDC sourced funds from various institutions and directed these investments into private companies focused on technologies developed during World War II.
 
In the years that followed, interest in VC grew, and was catalyzed by the work of Arthur Rock, a student of General Doriot’s, and the industry took off in the 1960’s and 70’s.[6] In 2024, global venture capital investments totaled approximately $368 billion USD.[7]
Benefits and Potential Drawbacks of VC
 
Benefits of VC
In addition to financing, VC investment brings additional benefits, including:

• Growth acceleration – VC firms are able to bring companies to the public markets sooner than non-venture backed companies, and when they do, valuations are proportionately higher. [8]
  • VC funding helps to accelerate research and development, manufacturing, hiring, and other capital-intensive business initiatives.
• Long-term financial benefits – VC backed firms that go on to become public tend to have higher cash flows and sales growth than their peers in the public market who did not.
  • Other studies have found that venture-backed companies also have significantly higher employment and sales growth.[9]
• Reputational reinforcement – VC investment, especially from reputable VC firms, helps to bolster a company’s reputation as it grows, which is beneficial as a company introduces new technologies or products and expands to new markets.
  • Additionally, VCs are able to tap into their strong network of contacts and connections to help provide additional exposure to their investee companies.[10]

 
Potential Drawbacks of VC
Although VC investment brings immense benefits, there are things to watch out for, specifically related to contractual terms and control:

• Investment terms – venture capitalists require more complex and potentially more onerous contractual terms for their investment because of the benefits they provide and their need to manage risks such as agency costs. It is important to note that VC contracts tend to be balanced, but individual provisions, such as retraction rights, anti-dilution rights, and liquidation rights, require additional negotiation and discernment.[11]
  • As companies mature and go through financing rounds, subsequent investors will use prior terms as a negotiating base, so it is important to be prudent at the outset of outside investment.
• Undue influence – VC firms may end up with more influence than a founder or founding team desires, based on the size of their investment and contractual terms, such as those above or covenants on the company. VC investment contracts are difficult for entrepreneurs to get out of.[12]
  • It is important for founders to vet VC firms just as VC firms vet founders and companies, to find the right relationship for the health and success of the company and the entrepreneur(s) themselves.[13]

 
VC Landscape in Canada and Alberta
 
Growth in Alberta
Venture Capital has historically experienced the most prevalence in Silicon Valley (SV) due to SV’s high concentration of technology companies that attract VC funding. In fact, by 1992, 48% of all investment dollars went into West Coast companies.[14] However, in the last number of years, beginning in the early 2010s, VC funding has grown in Canada, and Alberta has experienced significant growth within this advancement.[15] Overall, since 2013, 300 companies have received $3.9 billion CAD in venture capital investments in Alberta, and there are 50 VC firms headquartered in the province.[16]
 
According to the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA), there was $7.9 billion CAD invested in Canada across 592 deals in 2024, with $698 million CAD invested across 84 deals in Alberta.[17] Although total investment was down compared to 2021 and 2022 due to macro-economic changes, total investment grew 11% compared to 2023. In 2024, VC investment concentrated on later-stage funding, as many companies that had originally been backed in 2021 and 2022 sought larger funding rounds.[18]
 
Calgary Strength in VC
In 2024, Calgary ranked fourth in Canada in VC investment (and second behind only Toronto in the first half of the year), behind Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.[19], [20] 63 deals were made totaling $630 million CAD in investment. This represented growth of over $100 million CAD in VC investment year over year, despite a nationwide decrease, which demonstrates additional promise for the local ecosystem.[21]
 
In Calgary, specific sectors that have shown and continue to show strong growth are financial technology or fintech (highlighted by Neo Financial’s success), agriculture technology, and life sciences.[22] Additionally, Calgary’s high concentration of head offices represents an additional catalyst for venture capital investment; one study of nearly 14,000 Canadian venture capital investments found that over 84% of the investments involved an investor and entrepreneur in the same province.[23]
 
Main Takeaways

• As an investment vehicle, VC has grown substantially since its formal inception in the mid 1940’s focused on technologies developed during World War II, to a financing source that generated nearly $2 trillion USD in global investment from 2021-2024[24], [25], [26], into a wide variety of sectors.
• VC investment provides both financial and intangible benefits, including expertise, guidance for management, reputational benefits, and long-term profitability boosts.
• VC investment also has potential drawbacks, such as more onerous investment terms in financing agreements and the potential for venture capitalists to have greater influence than desired within companies they invest in.
• Within Canada, Alberta and specifically Calgary are strong markets and are poised for continued growth in venture capital investment in the coming years, as the provincial and local economies continue to diversify and focus on emerging sectors such as financial technology, agriculture technology, and life sciences.

 
Resources
 
For companies that are pre-VC, there are a number of resources (both funding and programming) within the Alberta and Calgary ecosystems. Some starting points for additional information include Calgary Economic Development, the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, Alberta Innovates, and Invest Alberta.
 
For questions, please feel free to reach out to us at the Business Venture Clinic!

DISCLAIMER: Venture Capital will not be applicable to or available for every company. This post presents a high-level overview of VC financing and its potential benefits and drawbacks but is not comprehensive or exhaustive. If you have questions about VC or other financing sources, or have other questions, please refer to other Business Venture Clinic blog posts or contact us directly.


[1] Adam Hayes, What is Venture Capital? Definition, Pros, Cons, and How It Works, (18 Oct 2024), online: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/venturecapital.asp

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ivelina Niftyhontas, Journey Through Time: A Comprehensive History of Venture Capital, (7 Dec 2023), online: https://www.goingvc.com/post/journey-through-time-a-comprehensive-history-of-venture-capital

[4] Ibid.

[5] Supra note 1.

[6] Supra note 3.

[7] KPMG, 2024 global VC investment rises to $368 billion as investor interest in AI soars, while IPO optimism grows for 2025 according to KPMG Private Enterprise’s Venture Pulse, (January 2025), online: https://kpmg.com/xx/en/media/press-releases/2025/01/2024-global-vc-investment-rises-to-368-billion-dollars.html

[8] Bryce Cyril Tingle, Start-up and Growth Companies in Canada: A Guide to Legal and Business Practice, (Canada: LexisNexis, 2018) at p 314 [Tingle]

[9] Tingle at p 314.

[10] Ibid at p 313.

[11] Ibid at pp 326-327.

[12] Ibid at p 331.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Supra note 1.

[15] Tingle at p 315.

[16] CVCA, Home, online: https://www.cvca.ca/?gclid=CjwKCAiAt4C-BhBcEiwA8Kp0CbovHXz343y3DEnyLLaH5JnbQ3Fsy61HPkRsF1eqWVl-E7I_sMFsdBoC8hEQAvD_BwE

[17] CVCA, Canadian Venture Capital Market Overview 2024, at p 6, online: https://reports.cvca.ca/books/myfw/#p=6

[18] Ibid at p 12.

[19] Knowlton Thomas, Calgary Snags Second Spot in National Ranking of Venture Capital Flow, (22 July 2024), online: https://calgary.tech/2024/07/22/calgary-second-spot-national-ranking-venture-capital-flow-canada/

[20] Aryn Toombs, Calgary saw major growth in venture capital deals in 2024, (20 February 2025), online: https://livewirecalgary.com/2025/02/20/calgary-saw-major-growth-in-venture-capital-deals-in-2024/

[21] Ibid.

[22] Supra note 20.

[23] Tingle at p 317.

[24] Supra note 7.

[25] KPMG, Q4’23 global VC deals volume drops to level not seen since Q3’16, (January 2024), online: https://kpmg.com/xx/en/media/press-releases/2024/01/q4-2023-global-vc-deals-volume-drops-to-level-not-seen-since-q3-2016.html

[26] KPMG, Global venture capital annual investment shatters records following another healthy quarter, (January 2022), online: https://kpmg.com/xx/en/media/press-releases/2022/01/global-venture-capital-annual-investment-shatters-records-following-another-healthy-quarter.html
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