One of Canada’s leading venture capitalists believes investors in this country are missing out on opportunities in the healthcare and food sectors.
Arlene Dickinson, founder and general partner of District Ventures Capital, best known as one of the dragons on the CBC show Dragon’s Den, has interests in Balzac’s Coffee, Sap Sucker and One World Foods, among others, and believes other investors the sector should take note.
“Technology is fascinating and certainly it enriches our lives in many ways (and) it also distracts from our lives in many ways, but we all get up every day to eat,” she said in a television interview with BNN Bloomberg on Thursday .
“We all need something nutritional in our bodies to function and people don’t focus on how important this sector really is in Canada and around the world, but in Canada in particular we just don’t invest enough in it.” .”
Dickinson said her company has added $1.6 billion to Canada’s health and wellness sector since founding District Ventures Capital.
“I think we need the investment community to focus more on this area,” she said. “It’s certainly not as sexy as AI. It’s also not as valued as AI, but it’s essential to our future health.”
Dickinson hopes investments in this sector will help Canadian companies manufacture products domestically, rather than producing the ingredients themselves and shipping them elsewhere for production.
“These are stable businesses that need to be boosted to move us forward, and people are not investing enough in this area,” she said.
For them, an attractive company leverages readily available ingredients, a fierce entrepreneur and “good control of its supply chain.”
“They’re looking for a product that actually hits trends,” she said. “Is it something that gives people a healthy snack option that makes them feel better about themselves and is actually good for them?”
For more from Dickinson, watch the video at the top of this story.
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