Despite record venture capital activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, investors in the earliest stage of the funding pipeline reined in spending last year. According to a new report from the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), startups saw smaller angel investment deals and a substantial drop in overall dollars raised in 2020. Here’s what you need to know about angel funding’s volatile year: 

$103M: The total amount invested at the angel stage in Canada, according to NACO’s survey of 29 active investors in the space. That’s down 37.2 per cent from about $164 million in 2019 and $143 million the year before; it’s the lowest level of investment since 2014. Most of the decline happened in the first three quarters of the year, amid intense economic uncertainty, with deal activity bouncing back slightly in the fourth quarter. 

416: Total number of angel deals in 2020. That’s 117 more deals than the year before, but still fewer than each of the three years prior to 2019. On average, angel investors each participated in 11 deals last year, slightly more than both of the two years before. 

$100K: The average amount startups raised in an angel round. Companies raised nearly double that much the year before, with a $190,000 median deal size. Angel-backed startups each raised $120,000, on average, in 2018. 

$6M: The average valuation of a startup that received angel funding. Valuations rose slightly from last year’s $5 million. Just over a quarter of investments were made at valuations of $10 million or more.

39%: The portion of investment dollars that went to companies in the information- and communication-technologies sector. Life sciences saw the second-most investments, while energy and cleantech represented just one and two per cent of angel dollars, respectively. 

34%: The portion of deals that used preferred shares, up from 19 per cent in 2019. The investment vehicle allows shareholders to garner dividends before common shareholders. Convertible notes were the second most popular investment type, used in 28 per cent of deals, followed by common shares. Debt was used in just four per cent of deals. 

24%: The share of NACO members who are women, a significant increase from 2019, when women represented 17 per cent of angel investors, and just 14 per cent in both 2018 and 2017. One organization reported having no women members, while three had more than 75 per cent women members.