If there’s one thing common to companies of all sizes and structures, it’s that they all need capital to grow and thrive. The ecosystem of how and where raising capital takes place, however, has recently been undergoing rapid evolution.

Whether or not this ecosystem and its stakeholders are moving in the right direction was the central theme of a panel discussion at the 2014 Canadian Investor Conference entitled: “Financing Methods: Where is the Money?”

Organized by Cambridge House International in Toronto, the panel included distinguished members from across the investment industry landscape and was moderated by BNN anchor and reporter Andrew Bell.

The panelists included the CEO of the CSE, Richard Carleton; President of the TSX Venture Exchange, John McCoach; President, and CEO, OTC Markets Group, Cromwell Coulson; President and CEO of BoardSuite, Oscar Jofre; and Co-Founder and Managing Director of WoodsWater Capital LP, David Franklin.

The discussion was a lively one offering a number of perspectives related to the availability and accessibility of capital for early-stage companies in Canada. Among the topics that the panel covered were why retail investors have been reluctant to participate in resource investment markets, the viability of equity-based crowdfunding and the challenges facing early-stage companies in raising capital.

For ease of reference, the following is a list of topics that Richard Carleton spoke to as part of the panel. To view his sections of the talk, simply click on the urls below:

• Why the retail investor is ‘on strike’
• Investor ‘malaise’ with respect to resource investing
• Visibility for Canadian companies to US capital
• Perspectives on equity-based crowdfunding
• Overall thoughts on raising capital in Canada

As was shown in the panel discussion, there are many different options now available to firms interested in raising capital. In spite of their differing positions on which direction or platform would be the most viable, what all the participants agreed upon was the high degree of change the capital raising landscape is experiencing.

From the CSE’s perspective, the positive growth and continued interest by companies to list on the Exchange are an important signal from the market. This interest is a validation that the CSE plays an important role in helping entrepreneurial firms attract and obtain the kinds of capital required to grow their business.

While this panel highlighted the uncertainty as to where the money is, it also hinted that a marketplace that efficiently connects capital to innovators is likely to be the place where that money will be going.

Click below to watch the video of the full panel discussion.