TORONTO, Feb. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) will host an embargoed virtual technical briefing on February 18, 2026, at 3:30 p.m. ET to present findings from the 2026 NACO Startup Genome Report on Funding Gaps in Canada. The report, prepared by Startup Genome in partnership with NACO, draws on approximately 65,000 funding rounds since 2006 and provides a comparative analysis of seven Canadian ecosystems against leading global peers.

The research arrives at a significant moment for Canada’s innovation policy. In Budget 2025, the federal government committed $750 million to address early growth-stage funding gaps—a signal that the structural challenges facing Canadian startups at the seed and pre-seed stages have entered the mainstream policy conversation. The report draws on one of the most comprehensive datasets assembled to date on the scale and composition of those gaps, providing an empirical foundation for ongoing discussions among policymakers, investors, and senior leaders.

The findings analyze how early-stage capital availability correlates with commercialization outcomes and ecosystem growth. The comparative assessment benchmarks Canada’s performance against advanced economies and identifies measurable gaps in capital formation relative to leading peers.

Technical Briefing Details

Date: February 18, 2026

Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

Format: Virtual (registration link here)

Eligibility: Accredited media only

Participation requires acceptance of terms of use governing the embargo. All materials shared during the briefing are strictly confidential until the embargo is lifted. Unauthorized disclosure, publication, or distribution of any information obtained during the briefing may result in exclusion from future NACO media events.

About the Report

The 2026 NACO Startup Genome Report on Funding Gaps in Canada analyzes approximately 65,000 funding rounds conducted since 2006 and benchmarks seven Canadian startup ecosystems against global peers. The report identifies structural imbalances in Canada’s early-stage funding landscape and quantifies their downstream economic effects.

Key findings include:

• Canada’s three largest startup ecosystems, Toronto-Waterloo, Vancouver, and Montreal, have collectively lost $66 billion in ecosystem value between 2019 and 2024. This reflects comparative underperformance relative to faster-growing global ecosystems during the same period.
  • This translates to an estimated 133,000 fewer high-quality startup jobs and $77 billion in foregone future public tech company market capitalization.
• Canadian startup ecosystems grew at approximately 2.2% annually during this period, compared to 9–17% among leading global peers (United Kingdom: 13%; France: 17%).
• Canada’s total minimum estimated annual funding gap is comprised of:
  • A $141 million seed and pre-seed funding gap, including a $116 million national gap and a $26 million gap concentrated in the Toronto-Waterloo ecosystem, where the Seed-to-Series A ratio is comparatively low.
  • A $181 million Series A funding gap. Series A gaps are often inherited from prior seed-stage deficits. The implication is that addressing seed and pre-seed gaps will cascade forward to strengthen Series A and later stages.
• The seed and pre-seed gap widened following the transition from VCAP to VCCI in 2017. Under VCAP, the Seed-to-Series A funding ratio was approximately 95%. Post-VCCI, Series A investment grew 2.5x while seed grew only 1.6x, creating a structural imbalance that has not been corrected.
  

Speaker

The briefing will feature a presentation by JF Gauthier, Founder and CEO of Startup Genome. Startup Genome is a global policy advisory and research organization that has worked with more than 170 government ministries and innovation agencies across over 60 countries. Its research informs policy design and ecosystem benchmarking at the national and subnational levels worldwide.

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