There were 539 deals last year, according to a new report from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA). Toronto was the city with the most VC investment, at $1.8 billion, followed by Montreal and Vancouver. (The Logic)

Talking point: The CVCA’s numbers are a bit higher than PwC’s roundup, which found that US$4.1 billion ($5.6 billion) was raised last year. The CVCA uses data investor-submitted data, while PwC works with CB Insights, which only partly relies on data from investors. The CVCA found private equity hit $19 billion in 2019, a drop from the $22.7 billion raised in 2018. There was much more activity on the earlier end, with 43 per cent of all VC deals coming in at the early stage. Canada is starting to see more so-called mega-deals, with 10 worth over $100 million and five worth over $200 million. There was also some good news for the cleantech sector, in which the government has been investing significant resources to bolster. All in, there were 29 cleantech deals with $407 million raised.