There is little high-tech venture capital in Canada.
Sure, there are venture capital firms but they mostly act like merchant banks - cautiously and conservatively investing in companies with customers, revenue and a track record. When it comes to start-ups, Canadian VCs have no appetite for risk. This is somewhat self-defeating because if there is no money for start-ups, it is difficult for them to grow into large companies with customers, revenue and track records. There is a chance - albeit quite small - that Canada's sad financing landscape is changing after Garage Technology Ventures Canada raised C$50-million to invest in early-stage companies. Now, $50-million is not a lot of cash but it's a start in the right direction. So how does Garage Canada define early-stage? Well, it's apparently willing to invest in companies that do not have a commercial product but have customers interested in making purchases. For a Canadian VC, this is a huge leap of faith - imagine, investing in a company without a product available! For those wondering about the link between Garage Canada and Palo Alto-based Garage Technology Ventures, the Canadian firm has a license to use the GTV's secret investment sauce and the brand. Garage Canada also plans to invest as much as 25% of its capital in the GTV's deals.
Addendum: GTV managing director Guy Kawasaki has a post about his first 100 days of blogging. The only quibble I have with his list (the man loves lists!) is his aspiration to have a top-10 Technorati ranking. It's fine to have ambitions but blogging should be more about the insight you offer than your popularity.