Early-Stage Funding Gaps a Priority with $750 Million in Federal Budget 2025

Claudio Rojas, CEO of National Angel Capital Organization at NACO Summit 2025 in Ottawa GNW

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NACO applauds the Federal Government’s recognition of Canada’s early-stage infrastructure and the critical role of “capital and networks” in empowering entrepreneurs “to launch and scale resilient, high-impact companies”

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OTTAWA, Ontario, Nov. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Federal Budget 2025 marks meaningful progress in recognizing the critical role of early-stage capital and angel networks in providing entrepreneurs with the capital they need to transform innovation into commercialization. In response, Claudio Rojas, CEO of the National Angel Capital Organization issued the following statement:

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“We’re pleased to see meaningful progress in areas that reflect NACO’s long-standing recommendations. This budget takes important steps toward aligning policy with the realities of early-stage entrepreneurs. We look forward to continuing to work with the government on advancing capital formation and leveraging our national network to develop a powerful strategy that fortifies Canada’s angel capital infrastructure.”

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Claudio Rojas, CEO of National Angel Capital Organization at NACO Summit 2025 in Ottawa

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Access to Capital and Networks:

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In alignment with NACO’s recommendations, Budget 2025 announced the government’s “intention to develop a strategy to support Canadian firms facing early growth-stage funding gaps” through $750 million in support of Canada’s early-stage entrepreneurs and the networks that fund them.

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“This $750 million announcement is a timely and strategic investment in Canada’s angel infrastructure. It recognizes that when we support the networks and investors behind early-stage companies, we strengthen the entire innovation economy.”

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Budget 2025 also announced the launch of a new fund-of-funds program, “Venture and Growth Capital Catalyst Initiative (VGCCI)”, a $1 billion investment that will extend the impact of VCAP and VCCI, as well as fortify the capital pipeline at the later stage. This initiative is expected to leverage more private venture capital by incentivizing pension funds and other institutional investor participation, and will support new and emerging fund managers and important sectors such as life sciences.

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With the announcement of these programs, it is clear that Canada is moving forward with a more sophisticated understanding of how capital at all stages transforms innovation into commercialization. With end-to-end investment from the earliest stages – including both capital and networks – to the latest stages of private capital, Canada will fuel a nation of builders with the capital they need to compete globally.

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Federal Budget 2025

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Defence Innovation, Dual-Use, and Strategic Sectors

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Further, NACO commends the Government on its efforts to prioritize defence innovation, dual-use, artificial intelligence, quantum, and other strategic and frontier sectors as part of the forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy. Programs under this strategy include $656.9M, starting 2025-26, for ISED to develop and commercialize dual-use technologies in a range of sectors, and $334.3 million over five years to help quantum technology companies grow in Canada. NACO also commends the government’s investment of $925.6 million over five years to build a large-scale sovereign compute capacity.