Investment - including venture capital, private equity and merger and acquisition activity - totalled US$353.7 million across 57 deals. That’s down from the US$1.09 billion invested across 87 deals in the second half of 2022, and US$834.1 million invested across 109 deals in the first half of 2022. Crypto and blockchain firms accounted for 15 investments, with seven AI companies picking up funds and six payments outfits also securing money. The majority of deals were early-stage and seed-round investments, with no IPOs. The Canadian scene is part of a global trend, with investment dropping to US$52.4 billion across 2153 deals from US$63.2 billion across 2885 deals in the second half of 2022. Geoff Rush, partner and national industry leader for financial services, KPMG, says: "Investors are still quite concerned about the state of the global economy, with fears of a recession, elevated inflation and interest rates continuing to put a significant strain on valuations, and that’s causing them to pause and reflect on their current investments and strategies."