CIBC Tech & Innovation Market Update – January 2021

Welcome to the official newsletter of CIBC’s Tech & Innovation Capital Markets group

A curated monthly report to keep our readers abreast on relevant and recent developments within the Canadian tech ecosystem


Canadian technology sector performance and valuation

 
EV / NTM revenue multiples 1 LTM sector price performance 1

Source: FactSet and Pitchbook; as at January 31, 2021; in C$ unless otherwise noted.
1 Please refer to the back page for technology group constituents.

 

Canadian Venture Capital market update

$541M

(vs. $165M in December-20)
Aggregate deal value

16

(vs. 16 in December-20)
Number of deals

$28M

(vs. $11M in December-20)
Avg. deal value

Ontario

($405M / 10)
Most active province ($ / #)

 

Software

(92.4% of funds raised)
Most active sector(s)

 

Noteworthy Canadian deals

Company Size Sub-sector Lead investors
C$159M Software
US$100M Software
C$69M Commercial Services
C$35M Series B Software
 

T&I @ CIBC

Deal announcement – CIBC Global Investment Banking

TELUS International – US$1.1 billion initial public offering

This is the largest tech IPO in TSX history. TELUS International designs, builds and delivers next-generation digital solutions to enhance the customer experience (CX) for global and disruptive brands.

Deal announcement – CIBC Innovation Banking

EZ Texting – US$13 million growth capital

EZ Texting offers promotions and marketing solutions to support businesses of all sizes along with notification solutions for non-profits and government institutions.

Redica Systems – $4 million growth capital

Redica Systems enables pharma, medical device and food manufacturers to use data and AI to reduce risk in large manufacturing environments and ensure regulatory compliance. The company’s unique platform provides customers with insights to continuously improve compliance, reduce supplier risk and increase team efficiency.

 

Podcasts

“Still at home”: a 2021 perspective for technology investing

The global reshuffle: the potential onshoring of the smartphone

 

Technology & Innovation in‘sites’ with CIBC Equity Research

T&I ‘Bits & Bytes’

Top 10 private Canadian technology themes for 2021

We present our list of Canada’s top 10 technology themes for 2021 and how the country’s most innovative private companies, and their founders, are leveraging them.

Read the full article here.

Coverage M&A outlook

Coverage set up to execute on M&A in 2021.

Read the full article here.

Capitol punishment

The tech industry reacts to riots at the US Capitol.

Read the full article here.

Tech culpability

Parler saga highlights challenges facing big tech.

Read the full article here.

Stay informed. Request access to CIBC Capital Markets Research Central here.

 

Recent technology news

“This is insanity: start-ups end year in a deal frenzy”

“Investors are tripping over one another to give hot start-ups money. DoorDash and Airbnb are going public. The good times are baaack.”

“Year from hell, year in review”

“We didn’t want to do a 2020 clip show. Everyone does a clip show at the end of the year. Why the hell would we do a clip show at the end of this year?”

Read the full article at BetaKit.

“The Apple car, briefly explained”

“The long-rumoured, long dead Apple car may have been resurrected.”

Read the full article at Vox.

“10 things that still don’t work heading into 2021”

“I know everyone is ready to give 2020 the boot, but the reality is that things aren’t going to magically stop being terrible just because the Judeo-Christian calendar is arbitrarily approaching a new big number. But I get it, we are tired of thinking about all the horrible things we had to deal with this year. So here are some new horrible things to think about that were around before 2020, and will still be with us in 2021.”

Read the full article at Medium.

“Opinion: Technology made the pandemic bearable. It’s also behind our national crackup.”

“If all goes to plan, vaccines might spring us from our digital purgatory by late summer. Some of us will hurl ourselves into the messy, rich world of in-person sociality. But others will have grown accustomed to the algorithmic comfort of Netflix and dinners dropped silently on the porch — and might not be so quick leave them behind.”

Read the full article at The Washington Post.

 

Tech & Innovation Key Contacts

Roman Dubczak
Deputy Chair
Kathy Butler
Vice Chair and Head of CIBC Capital Markets – B.C.
Emilie Bissonnette
Managing Director, Global Investment Banking
Frazer Wong
Executive Director, Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Mark McQueen
President and Executive Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Mark Usher
Executive Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Robert Rosen
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Julia Kassam
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Paul McKinlay
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Amy Olah
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Eric Laflamme
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Joe Timlin
Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Rob Magwood
Managing Director, Equity Capital Markets
Daniel Lee
Managing Director, Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Stephen Redding
Managing Director and Head

Canadian Technology Constituents

High-Growth Canadian SaaS – Ceridian, Descartes, Docebo, Kinaxis, Lightspeed, Shopify

Large Cap Canadian Tech – Altus, Blackberry, CGI, Constellation Software, Enghouse, Evertz Technologies, Nuvei, OpenText, Real Matters

Mid Cap Canadian Tech – Absolute Software, Calian, Celestica, Computer Modelling Group, Dye & Durham, Sierra Wireless

Small Cap Canadian Tech – Alithya, Baylin, BBTV, Blackline Safety, Converge Technologies, Optiva, Patriot One, Pivotree, Quarterhill, TECSYS, Terago, Sangoma, Sylogist, Vecima, Vitalhub

RELATED INSIGHTS: Tech & Innovation Market Update

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