TORONTO — When Andrew Curtis took over Clearco, he had his work cut out for him. A downturn in the tech sector that hit companies big and small was well underway and financiers were so spooked they were tightening their purse strings and pausing the lofty deals they signed at a dizzying rate during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With its mandate to lend cash to small businesses under terms more favourable than traditional lenders, Toronto-based fintech Clearco was not immune to the pressur
A downturn in the tech sector that hit companies big and small was well underway and financiers were so spooked they were tightening their purse strings and pausing the lofty deals they signed at a dizzying rate during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"When things are challenging, you just dig in and you work through this stuff and I really enjoy the challenge of sorting out and solving complicated problems," he said.On Tuesday, he checked off those items with a US$60 million Series D round from longtime Clearco investors Inovia Capital and Founders Circle Capital, which have backed a slew of big names including Wealthsimple, Lightspeed, Cohere, DoorDash, Pinterest and Poshmark.
"Lots changed in the last couple of years, most importantly, central bank's tightening of monetary policy, so rates are much higher and that, that always has some effect," said Curtis. As the Merrill Lynch & Co.-bred Curtis machinated the "unique and unusual" arrangement, Clearco was needed more than ever, because in the first half of 2023 alone, venture capital funding fell 48 per cent to the lowest level since before the pandemic.
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