US-based accountancy and consulting firm Deloitte’s Canadian subsidiary launched a corporate venture capital (CVC) unit called Deloitte Ventures yesterday with C$150m ($119m) in capitalisation.
Deloitte Ventures will focus on early-stage Canada-based developers of financial, consumer, data and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, healthcare and life sciences, governance risk, compliance, sustainability or clean technology.
The unit will invest approximately $1.5m to $8m per company, taking minority stakes in startups sized at up to 10%, Deloitte Ventures managing partner Talia Abramowitz told The Globe and Mail.
Abramowitz added in an official statement: “Canada’s technology sector is thriving, and we are seeing some incredible companies emerge.
“Now is the time to supercharge our technology ecosystem by encouraging further growth, innovation, equity and inclusion. Through Ventures, we will take an active role in helping accelerate the trajectory of our portfolio companies, which really benefits the Canadian business landscape, and ultimately, Canada as a whole.”
Deloitte is not the first consulting firm to be active in corporate venturing. Since 2018, PwC has had a venture advisory programme that helps early-stage companies raise up to $7m while its Raise Growth subsidiary handles rounds sized between about $6.7m and $41m.
Another consultancy, KPMG, provides startup services through its KPMG New Ventures business, focusing on areas such as capital markets and finance, green energy and sustainability, healthcare and biotechnology, digital transformation and cybersecurity.
In 2016, KPMG’s Singapore arm set up an incubator called Digital Village in partnership with insurance provider AIA, and then a few months later with logistics services provider YCH.
Deloitte had itself established an incubator in 2014 called Innovation Investments with $39m aimed at supporting startups founded by employees. It launched Innovation Tech Terminal, an Israel-based innovation hub involved in sectors such as financial services, digital health, the internet of things, automotive and sport technologies, two years later.
Deloitte Canada’s chief executive, Anthony Viel, said: “Deloitte Ventures comes at a time when the pace of change is at an all-time high.
“The covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of technology by both clients and competitors, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the old way of doing business is no longer relevant in the digital world.
“Deloitte Ventures is our commitment to stimulate Canada’s economy through investing in emerging technology companies that can lead globally, which has the added benefit of keeping our clients and Canadian business ahead of the disruption curve.”
