Panache Ventures says 60 percent of 2025 Canadian startups built with AI

More Canadian founders are building AI companies and fewer of them are getting a first cheque. BetaKit reports that Panache Ventures' 2026 Startup Formation Report found a 60 percent AI share for 2025 Canadian tech startups. Over the same window, the share raising a pre-seed round fell.

BetaKit's Josh Scott covered the report. The data was compiled by Panache's managing partner Prashant Matta and its analyst Inshaal Qadir from proprietary and public sources. The report gives one headline for anyone building in Canada. It is easier than ever to start a company, and harder to get the first cheque.

What the counts say

BetaKit cites 1,703 new Canadian tech startups formed in 2025, 10 percent fewer than in 2024. The first half of 2026 then turned up again. 892 net new firms formed, 20 percent more than the same half of 2025. The first quarter of 2026 was 49 percent higher than the first quarter of 2025. The report describes that pattern as a formation rebound after a slow 2025.

The pre-seed funding share is the number that moved against founders. BetaKit reports that 13 percent of 2023 companies raised a pre-seed round. By 2024 and 2025 the share was 8 percent each year. The report also finds that 44 percent of 2025 founders had worked at a venture-backed startup before.

Why Panache says the gap matters

Matta told BetaKit that cheap AI tooling is part of the explanation. "It's never been easier to build a new startup, especially at the app layer," he said. Panache now sees mostly AI-native companies in its deal pipeline, he added. The firm's second point is about what happens next. "Lower pre-seed funding today means fewer growth-stage companies in the future," Matta told BetaKit.

Panache is both the party with the data and the party raising a new pre-seed fund. BetaKit notes that the firm is raising a third fund for pre-seed Canadian tech. A VC pointing at a lower pre-seed rate while asking LPs for pre-seed money has an interest in that reading.

A founder reading the report in Toronto or Montreal now has two concrete facts. The 60 percent share means an AI-native pitch sits with the majority of other new 2025 companies. The 8 percent pre-seed rate says that 8 of every 100 companies in 2024 and 2025 raised a first round. Neither number is an action on its own. The report states plainly that a share of a growing total can still work out to more cheques. A smaller share does not always mean fewer deals.

Source

• Canada is creating more startups, but fewer are raising pre-seed capital: report, BetaKit, Josh Scott
• 2026 Startup Formation Report, Panache Ventures (gated)