We’re excited to share a Q&A with Dani Lipkin, Managing Director, Global Innovation Sector at Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV). With more than 15 years of experience working alongside public and private companies and their shareholders as they explore equity-raising options in Canada, Dani brings valuable technical insight and practical perspective on today’s private markets and the evolving capital-raising landscape. Dani’s insights reinforce the importance of a vibrant private market ecosystem that complements the public markets.

1. Private Placement Trends

What key trends are you seeing in private placements within Canada’s innovation and growth-company ecosystem? Are there sector-specific or structural shifts that stand out for you?

AI has obviously been one of the strongest areas, in terms of funding over the last few years. While many of the largest companies have been able to attract hundreds of millions and billions of dollars of capital, earlier stage companies are also seeing strong demand by investors. We are also seeing stronger signs of optimism in the Life Sciences sector after a few tough years of financing. Improved public market performance in biotech over the past year has helped restore confidence and drive renewed enthusiasm across the industry.

2. Staying Private Longer

Many Canadian companies are choosing to stay private longer. What do you think is driving this shift, and how has it changed the role of private placements in the growth journey?

The growth of the private market and the availability of capital has been one of the main drivers of companies staying private for longer periods of time. We have also seen companies on the public markets getting bigger and as they do, they become active acquirors of private companies that used to go public. For context, the average market cap of a TSX listed issuer has grown 170% from $0.9B in 2015 to $2.4B in 2025, but there are fewer companies listed.

3. Access to Private Capital

How has access to private capital evolved for growth-stage companies in recent years?

Access to private capital for earlier stage companies has been a lot more difficult over the past number of years. According to the latest CVCA report Pre-Seed, Seed, Early Stage, and Later Stage total capital raised, and number of deals have trended downwards for the last number of years. The only area that has seen an increase in financings is in the Growth Equity side, and that is mainly attributed to a few mega cap deals in 2025.

The downward trend in financing from Venture Capital highlights the importance of exploring all funding options for companies as they grow and scaling. TSXV has been an important exchange in being an alternative source of funding for companies at an early stage, eventually helping them grow and scale and graduate to TSX.

4. Use of Private Placements by Growth-Stage Companies

How do growth-stage companies typically use private placements?

Early-stage growth companies typically use private placements to strengthen their balance sheet to support scaling operations, hiring, and product development. Creating relationships with key long-term investors who can support a company through its infancy and potentially provide future capital injections is key at a company’s earliest stages.

About Markette

We founded Markette Ventures to help bridge the gap between companies seeking efficient access to private capital and investors looking for differentiated opportunities. Our end-to-end digital platform is designed specifically to support private placements, a key evolution in the Canadian private capital landscape that enhances efficiency, transparency, and investor access. Contact us to learn more: www.markette.ca

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