Canadian Web3 and RWA Capital Formation. The Comp Set, 2017 to 2026.

Executive summary

Canadian Web3, fintech, and tokenization companies have raised, by disclosed rounds, well over US$1.5 billion since 2017, across more than thirty named entities. The disclosed-funding map spans conventional fintech medians (Osler's 2024 Deal Points report identifies median pre-money valuations of approximately US$16 million for Canadian seed rounds and US$43.4 million for Series A), through Canadian crypto-exchange comparables (Coinsquare at CAD $110 million Series A post-money, Shakepay at CAD $313 million, Ledn at US$540 million), and into unicorn-tier outliers (Figment at US$1.4 billion, LayerZero at US$3 billion, Wealthsimple at C$10 billion post-money in its 2025 growth round).

This report maps the full disclosed-funding landscape across fintech, crypto exchange, blockchain infrastructure, stablecoin, and RWA tokenization categories. It identifies the three structural valuation bands the comparable set splits into. It grounds the discussion of what a Canadian RWA exchange and settlement infrastructure firm can credibly raise at, against what comp set, and in what capital environment. It is intended as primary-source reference material for institutional readers conducting valuation diligence on Canadian RWA-infrastructure financings.

1 Why this report exists

Most published valuation analysis on Canadian Web3 and fintech relies on Silicon Valley comparable sets that overstate what credible Canadian rounds actually clear at. Wealthsimple, Figment, and LayerZero get cited as "Canadian" comparables despite operating in materially different valuation environments than the median Canadian fintech raise. The grounded picture is messier, more useful, and lower-variance than the press treatment suggests.

The grounded picture matters because it determines what is and is not financeable for the next cohort of Canadian RWA-infrastructure companies. Setting expectations correctly affects which firms get funded, on what terms, and against what comp set institutional investors will benchmark them. Setting expectations incorrectly produces failed rounds, mispriced equity, and capital that flows to less-defensible categories.

This report uses publicly disclosed rounds, primary sources where available, and the Osler and CVCA benchmark data for the Canadian venture environment overall. Where a round's valuation is reported but not confirmed, this report treats it as directional rather than authoritative. The objective is a defensible, conservative read of the Canadian Web3 capital formation landscape across the 2017 to 2026 window.

2 The Canadian venture baseline

The right starting point is not the outlier rounds. It is the median.

Osler 2024 Deal Points Report. Median pre-money valuation across Canadian venture rounds: approximately US$16.0 million for seed, US$43.4 million for Series A. These figures cover the full Canadian venture market across sectors, not Web3 specifically.

CVCA H1 2025 data. Seed-stage average deal size across Canada: approximately CAD $3 million. This figure is the operative baseline for what a normal Canadian seed round looks like, including fintech and Web3.

These two benchmarks anchor the conversation. They are the figures that determine what a credible new Canadian fintech or Web3 raise will price at by default. Outlier valuations require something more than category alignment: meaningful traction, demonstrable revenue, strategic-investor participation, or unusually credible regulatory positioning. Without one of those, raises price at or near the Canadian median.

For RWA and Web3 infrastructure specifically, the median should be expected to skew higher than the broad Canadian fintech median. The reasons are structural: RWA infrastructure raises must fund regulatory licensing, custody integration, exchange-grade technology, and institutional sales motion in parallel. None of those is optional. The category-specific premium is real but moderate, typically pricing rounds 30 to 50 percent above the broad Canadian seed and Series A medians.

3 The three structural valuation bands

Canadian Web3, fintech, and crypto-adjacent companies cluster into three distinguishable valuation bands based on their structural positioning. The bands matter because they predict what comp set institutional investors will reference when underwriting a new round.

Band 1: Conventional fintech and neobank. Wealthsimple (Toronto), KOHO (Toronto), Neo Financial (Calgary). Seed rounds can be modest by absolute dollar terms (KOHO's 2015 seed was CAD $1 million). Breakout rounds at later stages produce very large valuations (Wealthsimple at C$10 billion in 2025, Neo Financial at over CAD $1 billion at Series C in 2022 before a 2024 reset to approximately US$510 million). These companies are not RWA-specific comps; they are useful as ceiling references for what a category-leading Canadian fintech can become.

Band 2: Regulated crypto exchange and lending. Coinsquare (Toronto), Shakepay (Montreal), Ledn (Toronto), WonderFi (Vancouver and Toronto), Coinberry (Toronto). Series A rounds in this band have priced at CAD $110 million (Coinsquare 2017), CAD $313 million (Shakepay 2022), US$230 million (Ledn Series A), and US$540 million (Ledn Series B). M&A activity has been material: WonderFi was acquired by Robinhood for CAD $250 million in 2025, Coinberry was acquired for CAD $38.5 million in stock. This band is the most directly comparable to the regulated Canadian exchange thesis, although the existing comparables are predominantly retail-focused rather than institutional-RWA-focused.

Band 3: Blockchain infrastructure and protocol. Figment (Toronto), LayerZero Labs (Vancouver), Dapper Labs (Vancouver). These are outliers in both Canadian and global terms. Figment raised a US$110 million Series C at US$1.4 billion post-money in 2021. LayerZero raised a US$135 million Series A at US$1 billion in 2022 and a US$120 million Series B at US$3 billion in 2023. Dapper Labs raised a US$305 million round in 2021. These valuations reflect investors pricing the companies as global financial-infrastructure platforms rather than as Canadian fintech. They are not appropriate base-case comps for new Canadian RWA-infrastructure raises. They are appropriate ceiling-narrative references for what a category-leading Canadian Web3 infrastructure firm can ultimately become.

A new Canadian RWA exchange and settlement infrastructure firm sits structurally most relevantly against Band 2 (regulated exchange comps) plus a category-specific premium for institutional positioning. The Band 3 outliers should be referenced as long-horizon ceiling narratives, not as base-case comparables.

4 The Canadian RWA-specific funding map

Within the Canadian RWA, tokenization, and stablecoin category specifically, the disclosed-round inventory is smaller and more concentrated. The named rounds, with disclosed terms where available:

• Stablecorp (Toronto). Pre-Series A in 2022 at CAD $1.9 million disclosed. Additional 2025 financing of approximately US$1.8 million (about CAD $2.5 million). Cumulative 2025 fundraising exceeded CAD $6 million per BetaKit reporting. QCAD-issuing stablecoin and tokenized CAD infrastructure operator.
• Loon (Calgary). Early-stage round in 2025 at CAD $3 million. Spinout from Paytrie tied to regulated CAD stablecoin push and the CADC acquisition.
• TransCrypts (Toronto and US). Early-stage round of US$2.4 million, Seed of US$15 million in 2025. Investors include Pantera Capital, Lightspeed Faction, Mark Cuban, and Techstars. Blockchain verification of records and credentials.
• Cybrid (Toronto). Series A of approximately US$10 million in 2024 to bring stablecoins to enterprise corridors.
• Hiive (Vancouver). Series A of CAD $5.7 million at CAD $77 million post-money. Private market secondary exchange.
• Overbond (Toronto). Seed of US$7.5 million. Digital bond issuance and analytics platform.
• Real Finance (Canada). US$29 million raised for RWA tokenization infrastructure across treasuries, private credit, and alternative funds.
• AuCan Gold (Toronto). Operating C$2.5 billion tokenized mining bullion program.
• Polymath and Polymesh. Approximately US$10 million seed and approximately US$58 million Series A equivalent for the public-permissioned chain infrastructure.
• Maple Finance (Canada). Seed of approximately US$5 million and Series A of approximately US$14 million for institutional crypto credit.
• Rails (Canadian crypto exchange). Recent US$14 million raise including participation from Kraken.
• Tuhk. US$6 million seed financing reported on the Canadian fintech track.

Cumulative disclosed Canadian RWA-specific funding across the named set is in the range of US$100 to US$150 million. This is meaningfully smaller than the broader Canadian fintech or Web3 totals, which reflects that the RWA category is still in early-stage capital formation. The category will scale materially in the next 24 months as institutional adoption of tokenized RWAs creates demand for the venue, custody, settlement, and issuance infrastructure that this report's research thesis identifies as the missing layer.

5 The investor map

Canadian Web3 and RWA financings are funded by a recognizable set of investors. Mapping the investor side of the comp set helps predict who is structurally available to lead and follow new Canadian RWA-infrastructure rounds.

Canadian-resident lead-credible funds. Version One Ventures (Vancouver), Portage Ventures, BDC Capital (federal Crown corporation), Golden Ventures, Inovia Capital, Real Ventures. These funds have credibly led seed and Series A rounds in Canadian fintech and Web3 categories with reasonable frequency.

US crypto-native funds active in Canadian deals. Pantera Capital, Lightspeed Faction, Framework Ventures, Hack VC, Polychain. These funds have participated in Canadian Web3 rounds (TransCrypts notably included multiple of them) and are increasingly active in the Canadian institutional tokenization category.

Strategic and corporate participants. ATB Financial (the Alberta Crown bank) has made strategic investments in Canadian digital-asset and stablecoin firms, notably Tetra Digital Group. DeFi Technologies made a strategic investment in Stablecorp. Tier-1 Canadian banks have largely held back from disclosed direct equity participation but have signaled increasing engagement through pilot partnerships (the Bank of Canada's Project Samara involved RBC, TD, and Export Development Canada).

International crypto-exchange strategic capital. Kraken's participation in Rails' US$14 million round is a notable signal that Tier-1 international exchange operators are actively positioning in the Canadian market for adjacent-category investments.

The investor map for a new Canadian RWA-infrastructure round at seed would credibly draw from Canadian-resident leads with US crypto-native fund participation. Series A would credibly add strategic capital from one or more Canadian financial institutions and one or more international Tier-1 exchange or asset-manager strategic. Series B and later would credibly add larger crossover and growth-stage capital with deeper strategic-investor engagement.

6 The M&A and exit baseline

The Canadian Web3 exit history is limited but informative. Two transactions stand out.

Robinhood and WonderFi. Robinhood agreed to acquire WonderFi for CAD $250 million in 2025. WonderFi was a Canadian crypto-platform consolidator that had assembled the Bitbuy, CoinSmart, and SmartPay assets, among others. The transaction is the largest disclosed exit for a Canadian crypto-asset platform to date. It signals that international Tier-1 retail-broker platforms view the Canadian regulated crypto market as strategically relevant enough to acquire at meaningful valuations.

Coinberry. Coinberry was acquired for CAD $38.5 million in stock in an earlier transaction. Smaller in absolute terms, but a reference point for what a sub-scale Canadian crypto exchange exited at in a less mature market.

The exit data is thin overall. The Canadian Web3 category is young enough that most disclosed-funded firms are still in active operation, not yet at exit. The two reference exits suggest the category produces credible institutional-scale acquisition outcomes but does not yet produce the kind of repeat large-exit pattern that more mature categories show. The exit pattern should be expected to scale materially over the next 5 to 10 years as the first cohort of seriously funded Canadian Web3 firms reach maturity.

7 What a Canadian RWA-infrastructure firm should benchmark to

Synthesizing the above into operational guidance for a new Canadian RWA-infrastructure raise:

Base case. Seed at US$3 to US$10 million pre-money to CAD $10 to CAD $20 million pre-money range, depending on team, regulatory positioning, and traction. Series A at US$15 to US$40 million raise at US$50 to US$150 million pre-money, contingent on demonstrated regulatory pathway clearance, anchor-institution engagement, and operational scaling.

Above-base case. Strong team plus demonstrated regulatory progress plus one or more named anchor institutional partners can support seed valuations in the higher half of the range and Series A valuations above the upper end of the base-case range. The Canadian Web3 category supports this premium when the components are credibly in place.

Outlier scenarios. Comparables in the LayerZero, Figment, or Wealthsimple range are not base-case. They are achievable at Series B and beyond if the firm reaches category-defining scale with multi-bank strategic-investor backing and demonstrated multi-year operational traction.

Capital required to operational scale. US$70 to US$150 million across three to four rounds, consistent with the global RWA exchange comp set covered in a separate KCS Research piece.

These ranges are conservative reads of what the disclosed-round inventory supports. They are not promotional targets. They are the figures that institutional readers conducting valuation diligence on a Canadian RWA-infrastructure financing should expect to see.

8 What the comp set implies for the next cohort

The next cohort of Canadian RWA-infrastructure raises will price against the comparable set this report describes. Three structural points follow.

The category-specific premium is real but moderate. RWA-infrastructure firms should expect to price 30 to 50 percent above the broad Canadian fintech median at comparable stages, reflecting the regulatory licensing, custody integration, and institutional sales motion that the category requires. The premium is not 5x the median. Setting expectations at 5x produces failed rounds.

Strategic investor participation is increasingly available at Series A. The 2024 to 2026 window has seen Canadian banks (ATB Financial), Canadian Crown corporations (Export Development Canada through Project Samara), and international Tier-1 exchanges (Kraken via Rails) move from observation to direct engagement. This widens the strategic-investor base materially relative to where it was three years ago.

The Tier-1 Canadian bank participation is the next axis. Disclosed direct equity participation from the major Canadian banks in Canadian RWA-infrastructure firms remains limited. The next major capital-formation cycle in the category will likely include such participation, which will move the comp set upward in pricing.

The constructive read is that the Canadian RWA-infrastructure capital formation environment is structurally favorable for credible new entrants. The base-case pricing is grounded in actual disclosed comparables. The strategic-investor universe is widening. The institutional thesis is increasingly understood. The capital is structurally available for firms that present the right combination of regulatory positioning, anchor-institution traction, and category-defining infrastructure scope.

Related KCS Capital research

• KCS Research, "Global RWA Exchange Landscape: 18 Live Venues." International comp set for the venue category.
• KCS Research, "Canada's $1.9B RWA Infrastructure TAM: Sized and Defended." The fee-pool sizing the capital is being deployed against.
• KCS Research, "Canadian RWA and Tokenization Ecosystem Map." The fuller competitive landscape.

Background and Sources

• Osler, "2024 Deal Points Report" on Canadian venture financing benchmarks.
• Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA), H1 2025 Canadian venture capital activity data.
• BetaKit, Crunchbase, and primary press disclosures for individual Canadian Web3, fintech, and RWA company rounds, 2017 to 2026.
• Robinhood and WonderFi M&A transaction disclosures.
• Bank of Canada, "Project Samara: tokenized bond trial summary," March 2026.
• Public funding disclosures from: TransCrypts, Cybrid, Stablecorp, Loon, Rails, Tuhk, Hiive, Overbond, Real Finance, AuCan Gold, Maple Finance, Polymath, Polymesh, Figment, LayerZero, Dapper Labs, Wealthsimple, Neo Financial, KOHO, Coinsquare, Shakepay, Ledn.

This report is institutional research from KCS Capital. It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, or a recommendation regarding any specific financing or transaction. KCS Capital Inc. is an independent technology and research firm; 4orm Finance operates as a separate regulated entity.