May 6, 2021
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Clearbanc, a Toronto-based capital provider, has recently closed its Series C financing round in which it raised USD$100 million in equity and USD$250 million in debt. The round was led by Oak HC/FT, a US venture growth firm, and included existing investors such as Inovia and Highland Capital Partners, and new investors such as Founders Circle and eInvestors. Following the round’s close, the company is reported to have a valuation close to USD$2 billion. The start-up announced a rebranding alongside the financing, which will see their name changed to Clearco to emphasise their product offerings beyond normal “banking” practices.
When Clearco was founded in 2015 the business focused on financing e-commerce businesses using a model whereby they would be entitled to a portion of the debtors’ profits until the amount owing, and a flat fee, was paid in full. The company has since expanded its service offerings to support entrepreneurs in a more fulsome manner. Their products now include a Venture Partner Network that opens doors to further financing opportunities, ClearAngel, which provides revenue-share funding opportunities to early stage companies, and an inventory support program through which Clearco purchases inventory directly for their clients. Further product launches are set to be announced later this year. Clearco’s CEO, Andrew D’Souza, has stated that the company made this pivot after realizing that “capital and funding is one part of a relationship that we can have, but we can actually think about this as a much bigger… platform”.
A key goal for the company moving forward is international expansion. While the company already has operations in the United States and United Kingdom, Clearco is eyeing other parts of Europe and Asia as potential expansion regions. D’Souza stated the turbulent year of 2020 gave them an opportunity to step back and assess their potential in foreign markets, and they saw a need for their products globally as economies and businesses begin to restart. “We started to realize that the world was going to look quite different…[and] we realized that it was a good opportunity for us to actually double down and really start to scale, and sort of accelerate some of our plans,” D’Souza stated. This strategy is evidenced in their employee growth; Clearco hired roughly 100 employees last year, which brings their total workforce to almost 300. The recent injection of capital through the Series C financing will no doubt spur on further growth.
Author: Sasha Seeber