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Montreal-based companies raised US$800 million in venture capital (VC) in 2017 — more than companies based in any other Canadian city, according to a report released by PwC Canada and CB Insights, a market intelligence firm, on Tuesday.

Those investments were spread out over over 63 deals.

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While that’s only three more deals than last year, the value of VC investments in Montreal rose 64 per cent when compared with the US$487 million invested in 2016. (The report cites figures in U.S. dollars, as most venture capital deals are denominated in that currency.)

The two largest VC investments made anywhere in Canada in 2017 went to Montreal companies, the US$166 million raised by point-of-sale software-maker Lightspeed in October and Element AI’s US$102 million raised in June.

Across Canada, investments in artificial intelligence were up, said Christine Pouliot, a deals partner at PwC.