Clearco company profile: valuation, funding & revenue

This Clearco company profile covers the company's valuation, revenue, funding rounds, investors and history. Clearco works in fintech, with a focus on non-dilutive funding for e-commerce brands. It was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its latest valuation on record is Over US$2 billion at its 2021 peak; recapitalization targeted about US$200 million (2021 / 2023). Every figure links to a public source, and anything the company hasn't disclosed is marked as such.

Revenue

Funding history

Clearco timeline

Key dates from the sources on this page, oldest first. Metric snapshots are listed after the funding events.

• 2015 — Clearco is founded in Toronto by Michele Romanow and Andrew D'Souza.
• 2023 — Asset-backed facility: Up to US$100M capacity. Investors: Pollen Street Capital.
• 2023 — Series D (recapitalization): US$60M, valuing the company at Recapitalization targeted about US$200M (reported). Investors: Inovia Capital and Founders Circle Capital (leads); SVB Capital.
• Aug 2026 — Asset-backed facility: US$100M. Investors: Macquarie.
• August 2026 — New funding capacity: US$100M Macquarie facility, expected to support about US$900M of advances over two years.
• August 2026 — Maximum advance: Up to US$10M per brand, terms of about 4 to 12 months.
• August 2026 — Break-even target: Fourth quarter of 2026 (company projection).
• 2026 — Merchants funded: About 400 in North America (reported).
• 2026 — Employees: Fewer than 100, down from about 550 at peak (reported).

Investors

Clearco is a Toronto company that funds e-commerce brands' inventory and marketing in exchange for a fee, without taking equity. Once valued at more than US$2 billion, it went through a painful recapitalization in 2023. In 2026 it is rebuilding: a new US$100 million facility from Macquarie Group has cut its cost of capital, and management is targeting break-even by the end of the year. This profile covers where Clearco stands as of October 2026, how its product works and what its history teaches founders.

Overview

Clearco, originally called Clearbanc, provides non-dilutive funding to online consumer brands. It started as one of the best-known names in revenue-based financing, where a business receives cash and repays it from a share of future sales. Today its main product is invoice funding: Clearco pays a brand's supplier, freight or marketing invoices up front, and the brand repays over a set schedule. A typical customer is a direct-to-consumer brand that needs to buy stock months before it sells it.

Michele Romanow and Andrew D'Souza founded the company in Toronto in 2015. Romanow became widely known in Canada as a panellist on the TV show Dragons' Den. She stepped down as chief executive in January 2023, becoming executive co-chair, and Andrew Curtis has led the company since, according to BNN Bloomberg.

Clearco in 2026: the Macquarie facility and break-even target

On 18 August 2026 Clearco announced a US$100 million asset-backed facility from Macquarie Group, which it expects to support about US$900 million of funding to e-commerce brands over two years, according to the company's press release. The facility lets Clearco offer qualifying brands up to US$10 million each, with repayment terms of roughly four to 12 months. Its previous facility, from Pollen Street Capital in 2023, capped advances at about US$4 million on shorter terms, according to Cobalt Intelligence, which summarised reporting by The Globe and Mail.

The bigger change is price. Chief executive Andrew Curtis told The Globe and Mail the new facility is about 50% cheaper than the one it replaces, and said the company expects to break even in the fourth quarter of 2026, as reported by BetaKit and FinTech Futures. For a lender, the cost of borrowed money is the main expense, so a cheaper facility goes straight to margins. Break-even is still a projection: Clearco has not published audited results showing it has reached profit.

Turnaround by the numbers

Reported figures show a smaller but busier company than at its peak. According to Cobalt Intelligence, citing The Globe and Mail:

• Clearco has funded about 400 merchants in North America.
• Originations in the year to 30 June 2026 were roughly seven times their 2023 level.
• Its loan-loss ratio was reported at under 1%.
• It has fewer than 100 employees, down from about 550 at its peak.

Earlier, Curtis told The Logic that the dollar value of advances tripled in 2024 compared with 2023 and was on track to rise a further 50% in 2025. These are company-reported numbers rather than audited accounts, but together they describe a lender that shrank its costs sharply and then grew volume again on a narrower focus.

How Clearco's funding works today

Clearco's invoice funding page describes three steps: a brand connects its sales, marketing and bank accounts so Clearco can set a funding limit; it uploads supplier invoices or purchase orders; and Clearco pays the vendor, typically within about a day. The brand then repays in capped weekly instalments on a fixed schedule.

Pricing is a single flat fee rather than interest. In a 2024 blog post, Clearco gave examples of 5% for a four-month term, 6.25% for five months and 8% for six months, with the fee depending on the brand's financial performance. Those are illustrative figures from 2024, and current pricing may differ, so brands should compare the full cost of any offer. Clearco says it does not take personal guarantees or blanket liens over a business's assets.

Third-party reviews generally describe eligibility as an e-commerce or digital consumer business with at least six months of trading and steady monthly revenue, connected through platforms such as Shopify, Amazon and ad accounts. Requirements change, so the company's own site is the reliable source.

The rise

Clearco grew very quickly during the e-commerce boom of 2020 and 2021, when online sales surged and founders wanted alternatives to selling equity. It raised large venture rounds and lending facilities, expanded to the UK, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia, and reached a valuation reported at more than US$2 billion in 2021. That made it one of Canada's most visible fintech unicorns.

The recapitalization

From 2022, conditions turned sharply. E-commerce growth slowed after the pandemic, interest rates rose, which made Clearco's own borrowing more expensive, and venture and debt funding became much harder to get. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023 hit Clearco directly, because SVB's Canadian branch held a term loan to the company. BetaKit reported multiple layoff rounds, exits from overseas markets and a change of CEO.

In 2023, Clearco went through a complex recapitalization. The Globe and Mail reported that the plan would wipe out most of its valuation, targeting a new equity raise at about US$200 million including the new cash. Investors who didn't take part would see their stakes shrink sharply. In the end:

• Inovia Capital, Founders Circle Capital and SVB Capital bought back Clearco's US$60 million term loan from SVB's liquidated Canadian branch.
• Clearco closed a US$60 million Series D led by Inovia and Founders Circle.
• Pollen Street Capital provided a new asset-backed facility with up to US$100 million of capacity.

The 2026 Macquarie facility replaces that Pollen Street arrangement on cheaper terms. Clearco has not announced a new equity valuation since the recapitalization.

Revenue: what's public

Clearco hasn't published audited revenue. Its income comes from fees on the funding it provides, so revenue rises and falls with the volume of capital deployed, while profit depends on the gap between those fees and the cost of its own borrowing, minus losses on unpaid advances. Third-party revenue estimates exist but aren't company figures, so we don't repeat them.

Competitive landscape

Clearco competes with other e-commerce financing providers such as Wayflyer, other revenue-based lenders and inventory financiers, with the financing products that platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, Stripe and PayPal offer their own merchants, and with banks. Platform-embedded financing is the hardest competition, because those platforms already hold merchants' sales data and can offer money inside the tools merchants use every day. Clearco's pitch is larger advances, longer terms for inventory and a focus on brands that have outgrown platform limits.

Lessons from Clearco

• Lenders live on their cost of capital. When rates rose, Clearco's margins were squeezed; when it found cheaper funding in 2026, its path to break-even shortened.
• Recapitalizations reset ownership. Investors who put in new money in a recap often end up owning most of the company, while others are heavily diluted. See our guides to down rounds and liquidation preferences.
• Your bank is a counterparty risk. SVB's failure showed that where a startup banks and borrows can become a crisis in itself.
• Focus can beat scale. Clearco's recovery came from fewer markets, fewer staff and a narrower product, not from rapid expansion.

What a recapitalization means for shareholders

A recapitalization like Clearco's is more drastic than an ordinary down round. New money comes in at a much lower valuation, often with terms that give participating investors priority, and the share structure is reset. Investors who put in new capital usually end up owning a much larger share of the company. Those who don't participate, along with founders and employees holding common shares, can see their stakes shrink dramatically. Employee options granted at higher prices may become worthless unless they're reissued.

The alternative, though, is often worse: without new capital, a company with heavy debt may be forced into insolvency, which can wipe out equity entirely. Clearco's case shows how a company can survive that process and rebuild with its existing venture investors stepping in.

Key facts at a glance

Clearco, originally Clearbanc, is a Toronto e-commerce funding company founded in 2015 by Michele Romanow and Andrew D'Souza and led since January 2023 by chief executive Andrew Curtis. It reached a valuation reported at more than US$2 billion in 2021. In 2023 it was recapitalized: its backers bought back a US$60 million term loan from SVB's Canadian branch, it closed a US$60 million Series D led by Inovia and Founders Circle, and Pollen Street Capital provided an asset-backed facility. In August 2026 it secured a US$100 million facility from Macquarie Group, allowing advances of up to US$10 million per brand, and said it expects to break even in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Clearco's story in brief

• 2015: founded in Toronto as Clearbanc.
• 2021: valued at more than US$2 billion; rebrands as Clearco and expands internationally.
• 2022: layoffs and exits from overseas markets as e-commerce slows and rates rise.
• January 2023: Romanow steps down as CEO; Andrew Curtis takes over.
• 2023: SVB collapse; recapitalization with a US$60 million Series D and a Pollen Street facility.
• 2024: advances triple compared with 2023, according to the CEO.
• August 2026: US$100 million Macquarie facility; break-even targeted for Q4 2026.

What to watch next

Watch whether Clearco reports break-even in late 2026 and stays there, whether loss rates remain low as advances grow to as much as US$10 million per brand, and whether it raises new equity at a disclosed valuation. Interest rates and the health of consumer brands, including the effect of US tariffs on imported inventory, will shape both demand and repayment. Our guide to Canadian unicorns tracks how Clearco compares with other Canadian startups.

What this means if you're…

An e-commerce founder: compare funding offers on total cost, repayment schedule and security terms, and ask how stable the provider's own funding is. A lender with a fresh, cheaper facility is better placed to keep lending through a downturn.

A fintech investor or operator: Clearco is a case study in how capital costs, underwriting and headcount decide whether a lending model works.

Selling to Clearco: a company running lean towards profitability buys carefully, with a focus on risk management, underwriting data and efficiency.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the public sources below. Where sources disagreed, we used the company's own announcement or a primary news report. Private-company data changes; check the date beside each figure.

1. The Globe and Mail
2. Clearco (PR Newswire)
3. BetaKit
4. Cobalt Intelligence (citing The Globe and Mail)
5. BetaKit