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The dollar investment in venture capital-backed Canadian companies was stable in 2016, totalling U.S.$1.7 billion, virtually matching the previous year with only a 0.3 per cent decrease and bucking a global trend that saw total venture capital funding fall 23 per cent.

According to a new report by PwC Canada, the number of VC deals with Canadian companies also increased to 266 from 244 or seven per cent, outperforming the world at large, where deals fell 10 per cent. Global venture capital-backed dollars and deals registered at US$21 billion across 1,971 investments, with particular declines in the United States and Asia.

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“Globally, we’re still bullish on tech overall, but this speaks to the strength of innovation in this country,” PwC Canada national technology sector leader Chris Dulny said in an interview. “And there are also added benefits in our market: the government does a lot of work supporting the ecosystem through tax credits and also uses its own purchasing power, and the lower Canadian currency coupled with our proximity to the world’s biggest market in the U.S. help to enhance investment opportunities.”