Export Development Canada (EDC) has become a significant investor in Canada’s AI sector, using its cash and vast network of international connections to help firms grow into new markets. 

The Crown corporation says it has put more than $500 million into Canadian AI startups and scale-ups via direct deals, and more than $200 million through its backing for investment funds. Those figures are as of March.

EDC’s aims include filling financing gaps in the AI technology stack and boosting Canada’s trade in professional and technical services. “We identify companies that we believe have the potential to become global champions,” said Guillermo Freire, senior vice-president of EDC’s mid-market group.

The agency’s portfolio includes Toronto-based model makers Cohere and Waabi, as well as hardware firms Spark Microsystems, Tenstorrent and VueReal, and AI tool developers Boosted.ai and CoLab AI. EDC is also an investor—or limited partner (LP) in industry terms—in funds from major AI financiers like Inovia Capital, Intrepid Growth Partners and McRock Capital.

A key draw is the agency’s network of contacts in markets around the world. For most of EDC’s portfolio firms, “we aren’t the biggest cheque by far,” said CEO Alison Nankivell. “But we’ve been helping them with global connectivity in a way that other investors can’t.”

For example, EDC has facilitated introductions for enterprise-focused Cohere to big businesses in countries like Germany, Korea and Japan, Nankivell said. The agency’s network includes industrial conglomerates like LG—with which the Canadian firm is now co-developing models—as well as Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Siemens.

Nankivell also cited Lidl, the German supermarket chain. Schwarz Group, the retailer’s corporate parent, has committed US$600 million to lead Cohere’s next funding round. It’s part of a deal announced in April that combines the Canadian AI firm with Schwarz-backed rival Aleph Alpha, with a view to jointly pursuing the European enterprise market. 

It’s “incredibly important” for Canada and Cohere that the firm is “well-engaged and considered a true partner in Europe and Asia,” said Nankivell. She cited the geopolitical wrangling around AI, which has countries in those regions seeking alternatives to U.S. technology. 

Cohere spokesperson Kyle Lastovica said EDC has been “a constructive partner” in helping the firm navigate international markets and build commercial relationships.

Inovia partner Hugues Lalancette said the agency has recently helped both his Montreal-based venture firm and startups in which they’re both invested to make connections in the Gulf region. “That international network is valuable,” he said.

EDC’s business connections program has helped set up and finance 1,300 contracts worth a combined $1 billion for about 250 Canadian firms since 2018. AI deals include Vancouver-based SimplyAsk’s December 2025 tie-up with Mexican telecom Axtel, which resells the startup’s agent-builder tools to its clients. 

Portfolio firms also value the agency’s money. Toronto-based Boosted sells AI research agents and tools to hedge funds and other large financial services firms. The company has less use for EDC’s network, CEO Joshua Pantony said, because it’s already well-known on Wall Street and can tap the network of longstanding backer Portage, a leading fintech investor. 

EDC backed Boosted in a previously unannounced round that closed in the first quarter, led by Information Venture Partners. The investment had an important consequence for Boosted: It helped keep the firm Canadian-controlled. “We would have had to switch to being an American company in our last funding round if it wasn’t for the fact that EDC existed,” said Pantony, citing a shortage of Canadian funds that can write the large cheques that AI firms need at the growth stage. Following EDC’s investment, Boosted is about 52 per cent Canadian-owned.

Pantony also pointed to the agency’s long-term approach and ability to keep investing over time. “They’re patient capital,” he said, adding that he appreciated how rapidly the agency came to terms. “The pace in AI is so fast that you want to get your fundraising done quickly and focus on execution.”

EDC has “scale that not a lot of LPs in Canada have,” said Lalancette, citing the size of the agency’s balance sheet and ability to write larger cheques. He added that EDC is also a faithful backer, committing to multiple funds over time.

There’s no shortage of venture capital in AI right now. Globally, firms in the sector raised US$407 billion across 3,500 deals in the first half of 2026, according to PitchBook data. In Canada, AI accounted for 65 per cent of the $2.69 billion that startups raised over that same period, according to the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.

EDC executives say they’re not just piling into the big-money trend. The agency is focused on “the areas that are critical for Canada that are not receiving that amount of capital,” said Freire. 

For example, while data centre operators and new cloud services are raising huge sums, EDC has spotted a need in AI hardware, which firms must spend a lot up front to develop. Up the stack, the agency is focusing on firms building specialized models or applications, like Waabi for self-driving cars or Cohere for businesses. “That’s where capital is needed, so that’s where we’re going,” Freire said.

EDC is also financing startups bringing AI to traditional Canadian industries, like Calgary’s GeologicAI, which helps mining firms find resource deposits, and Edmonton’s Nanoprecise, which sells sensors and software to monitor industrial equipment. Such firms are often backed by large firms in their target markets or the family offices of industry executives from those sectors, rather than venture funds. “We’re pretty comfortable co-investing and working alongside non-traditional investors,” Nankivell said.

The agency can also provide other forms of financing, including debt or underwriting large orders. That could include loaning Canadian AI firms money to buy compute power and other infrastructure to run their applications in international markets.

AI is one part of EDC’s larger push to boost the exports of Canadian services, as the federal government looks to diversify the country’s trade flows away from the U.S.—typically the first and largest market for most technology startups. The agency has provided about $7.9 billion in financing and other support to about 1,500 firms in the digital technology sector in 2025. Nearly two-thirds of that was outside the U.S.

“We’re very focused on building those future pillars of prosperity for the country, and making sure they’re sufficiently global-thinking,” said Nankivell.