2018 was another remarkable year for Canadian Narwhals and we are pleased to introduce the Narwhal List 2019 here. In brief:

17 new companies joined the list last year, replacing others that no longer qualify for the list.

  • 17 new companies joined the list last year, replacing others that no longer qualify for the list.
  • Compared to the year before, we almost doubled the number of firms on track to become Unicorns in the near future.
  • The list had a strong cohort of 25 technology companies that raised, on average, $40 million, and two healthcare companies, each averaging $100 million in new capital.The average financial velocity in the technology sector increased from 9.4 to 12.8.
  • Entry to the Narwhal List is becoming more exclusive: the minimum financial velocity for entry is now 6.7 (compared to 4.7 in 2017).
  • Although none of the firms on last year’s list went public in 2018, none were sold—a hopeful sign of retention in Canada.

What is highly disappointing though is that Canada has yet to produce a Unicorn since Kik Interactive became one in August of 2015. That’s over three years without producing a Unicorn when we should be producing between two and five a year. In fact since Kik became a Unicorn, 19 US companies were founded and became Unicorns.

Exhibit 1 features the ten leading Canadian Narwhals.

Read the full Narwhal List 2019 here.