"Canada's economic and national sovereignty interests are converging at an incredible pace. BDC wants to strengthen the defence ecosystem with a clear, two-layer approach—direct financial solutions for businesses, as announced in December, and indirect solutions that offer more targeted support for the broader ecosystem that enables those entrepreneurs. That's the focus of BDC's second layer that we will be developing in the coming months," said Peter Dawe, Vice-President, Defence Strategy, who leads BDC's Defence Platform.
This second layer of support aims to connect Canadian SMEs and startups with priority defence and sovereignty needs in Canada and allied countries, focusing on targeted initiatives and partnerships. This includes working with incubators, accelerators, universities, and other organizations that support defence-focused businesses, connecting them with mission owners, buyers and key ecosystem stakeholders, and helping companies test and scale their technologies.
Early results and new partnerships
As part of an update on the rollout of its Defence Platform, BDC reported that, since its launch in December, $91.7 million in financing has already been provided to 16 businesses. BDC also reported 16 businesses have engaged its advisory services for defence-related opportunities.
"We're seeing a strong, high-quality pipeline of ...
