Canada’s federal investment bank wants to bring life sciences funding back to life.
What happened: The VC arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) — the Crown investment bank dedicated to small and medium businesses — launched a new $150 million fund for life sciences startups. It aims to invest in 10 to 15 seed and Series A firms.
Why it’s happening: The fund is something of a mea culpa for BDC, which turned its back on life sciences funding in 2019 when it spun out its health-focused Amplitude Ventures fund, which is now privately owned. Since then, VC funding for the sector has dried up.
“There’s still a role for us to play in this sector and, probably, we pulled out too quickly, too early,” BDC president Isabelle Hudon told a conference earlier this year.
Why it matters: Canada has long been a life sciences research powerhouse, but firms have struggled to become actual businesses due to a dearth of VC backing and lack of know-how for bringing products to market.
A 2024 RBC report backs this up, finding that ~80% of life sciences funding in Canada goes to R&D.
Zoom out: BDC wasn’t the only Canadian lender yesterday unveiling funding for critical industries. RBC CEO Dave McKay said Canada’s largest bank is planning to launch a new growth fund that will spend up to $1 billion over the next several years with a focus on things like infrastructure, defence companies, and Canadian firms looking to expand globally.—QH
