TORONTO, March 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) will host an embargoed virtual technical briefing on March 26, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. ET ahead of the public release of its detailed policy recommendations for the $750 million early growth-stage allocation within Canada's $1.75 billion Venture Capital Strategy, alongside a supporting white paper.
The recommendations were developed through a nine-month industry-led consultation process that engaged over 250 senior leaders across the full capital pipeline—including angel investors, angel networks, early-stage venture capital funds, venture studios, senior leaders and founders.
The briefing will present the evidence base, program architecture, and details behind both recommendations. Embargoed briefing materials will be provided to approved registrants following the technical briefing.
Technical Briefing Details
Date: March 26, 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Format: Virtual (https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/sCUa6TC1ROOBv-GJRVQCXg)
Eligibility: Accredited media only
Participation requires acceptance of terms of use governing the embargo. All materials shared during, in advance of, or following the briefing are strictly confidential until the embargo is lifted.
Background
Budget 2025’s Venture Capital Strategy commits $1.75 billion to the innovation economy. The $1 billion component carries specific mandates directed toward later-stage and institutional-grade investment vehicles. The $750 million represents the remaining allocation, and is the envelope that most directly corresponds to the segment of the capital continuum that has received the least sustained policy attention: the pre-seed and seed stages.
NACO’s research has documented a $323 million annual funding shortfall at the pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages across Canadian ecosystems—a cumulative gap exceeding $1.6 billion over the next five years. Canada’s top three startup ecosystems have lost a combined $66 billion in ecosystem value over the past five years, a period in which later-stage infrastructure expanded while early-stage capital gaps deepened. The implementation frameworks presented in this briefing are designed to address the structural conditions behind that decline.
What the Briefing Will Cover
The briefing will present two complementary recommendations for the full $750 million envelope:
- A $500 million early-stage matching funds program designed to mobilize private pre-seed, seed and Series A capital through equity-based co-investment, with built-in regional and sector allocation requirements.
- A $250 million early-stage infrastructure growth initiative to professionalize and scale Canada’s pre-institutional capital deployers including angel networks, pre-seed and seed fund managers, and venture studios. This foundational layer of Canada’s capital pipeline falls outside the risk profile of existing institutional venture capital programs.
Key themes include:
- Why Canada’s $1.6 billion cumulative early-stage deficit has deepened over the same decade in which later-stage government programming expanded, and why repeating the same approach will produce the same result.
- The domestic capital question: CPP Investments now allocates 47% of its $714.4 billion portfolio to U.S. assets and only 12% to Canada. NACO’s position on why pension fund participation is an effect of pipeline strength, not a cause, and what that means for the design of this allocation.
- The power law and why it changes the math: how early-stage venture capital generates returns across a large portfolio rather than through individual company selection, and why that requires a fundamentally different fund capacity model than growth-stage investing.
- The current state of Canada’s innovation ecosystem: what the consultation process revealed about operational capacity, regional disparities, how venture capital returns require "power law" scale at the early-stage to produce high-growth outcomes at the later stages.
- NACO’s detailed recommendations for how to deploy the full $750M, including program architecture and measurable five-year targets.
About the National Angel Capital Organization
Founded in 2002, the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) is Canada’s national network for angel investors and early-stage capital. NACO represents more than 4,000 angel investors and over 100 member organizations across Canada. Collectively, NACO’s network has invested more than $1.8 billion in over 2,000 Canadian ventures. NACO supports the development of Canada’s early-stage investment ecosystem through research, education, and engagement with policymakers.
Media Contact
Claudio Rojas
CEO, National Angel Capital Organization
media@nacocanada.com
