[otoburb]

>>But in some situations, raising $150M with government and institutional backers is easier than raising from traditional VC directly. Like a big government backed initiative with all the flair, PR, announcements.

The >$150M raised, a good chunk sourced by the provincial government, is in a sense more "precious" because there's so little Canadian venture capital with low(er) risk tolerances floating around, resulting in yet further tightening of Canadian VC capital. The problem compounds itself.

[jariel]

The money came from Desjardins etc. because of the 'strategic' and 'nationalist' aspect of the investment.

No VC - even American one's were going to invest in that kind of boondoggle up front at those valuations.

So you're right when you say 'there isn't enough money' - at the same time, that's not the problem specifically here, and, frankly, good companies will get the money.

There are big funds in Canada.