Silicon Valley Bank said assets reached new heights of US$1.3 trillion in June 2020 and concentration increased as the pandemic shifted attention to known quantities, meaning firms with larger funds and companies with higher valuations. (The Logic)

Talking point: In Canada, the share of later-stage venture deals increased to 24 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 compared to 20 per cent for the same period in 2019, according to the report; U.S. participation in Canadian tech venture rounds grew to 48 per cent last year, up from the typical amount of about 30 per cent. “The current SPAC mania faces a looming cliff,” the report says, noting that most SPACs—blank-cheque companies set up to raise capital to acquire another company—have two years to find their target acquisition or else must dissolve and return investors’ money. This year, three SPACs that total less than US$1 billion must de-SPAC, but that figure jumps to 94 in 2022, totalling more than US$32 billion.