Revenue-based funding pioneer appoints Dan Peters as Managing Director
Clearco, the world’s largest e-commerce investor and the company revolutionising the way founders grow their businesses, today announced its formal launch into Australia, with a commitment to invest AU$100 million into digital-first Australian businesses. The company has appointed former Google executive and Limepay co-founder Dan Peters, as Australian Managing Director, tasked with building a 20-strong team by the end of 2021.
Clearco is currently the global leader and pioneer of the ‘revenue-based funding’ sector. The company’s technology combines AI and data science to offer fast and affordable funding in the form of non-dilutive capital for e-commerce businesses. An alternative to traditional venture capital, the company also provides true, tangible value and services including inventory funding and access to a global founder community, as well as insights and valuation tools to ensure its founders are successful.
Clearco was founded by tech entrepreneur and star of the Canadian edition of “Dragon’s Den” Michele Romanow and Andrew D’Souza, and it has invested more than US$2.5 billion globally into 5500+ start-ups across three continents. Australia is the third international market launch for Clearco, and a strategic move into Asia Pacific. The company currently has operations in the US, Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands, with plans to expand across Europe by the end of the year.
Clearco’s AI-driven platform offers ‘blind funding’ with algorithms that are age- gender-, race- and region-agnostic which literally ‘changes the face’ of investment. In terms of the company’s impact, in 2020 Clearco funded eight times as many companies headed by female founders as traditional VC firms[i]. In that same timeframe, 13% of Clearco’s funding went to companies headed by founders of colour, compared to 2.6% for traditional VC firms. It also “spreads the wealth” geographically, with 70% of UK businesses funded by Clearco located outside of London and in the US, more than half of the company’s funding goes to businesses outside of the four major states that are traditional funding hot spots.
Co-Founder and President of Clearco Michele Romanow commented “Clearco has chosen Australia for our first Southern Hemisphere launch market because it has a dynamic start-up sector which is underserved in the revenue-based finance space. We are delighted to welcome Dan Peters to spearhead our expansion. As both a founder and senior business leader, he has the ideal experience and network to meet and exceed our ambitious plans for the region.”
Andrew D’Souza, Co-Founder and CEO of Clearco said “We are excited to help democratise founder funding to support the many exceptionally talented and innovative businesses in Australia. Our technology removes inherent bias that can impact funding decisions. We look forward to working with Australian founders of all ages, genders, races and regions to furnish them with access to capital and data to help them grow their business.”
Dan Peters, Clearco Australia Managing Director commented “Our goal is to support a thriving start-up ecosystem for our country and drive smarter and more diverse capital into Australian ecommerce businesses. We are confident we can help these businesses grow and flourish and drive innovation in the Australian economy.”
Dan Peters has more than 20 years of digital experience including over a decade in senior director positions at Google, including as Director of Strategic Partnerships from 2017-2020. Dan returned to the world of start-ups in 2020 as a co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer at the next-generation payments start-up, LimePay. Previously he was a co-founder of Cleardocs, a disruptive legal-tech solution, which was sold to ThompsonReuters in 2011.
Michele Romanow Clearco president & co-founder
Dan Peters, Australian Managing Director
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About Clearco
Co-founded as Clearbanc in 2015, Clearco offers the most founder-friendly capital solutions for e-commerce, mobile apps, and SaaS founders as well as a full suite of products and access to a powerful global network, insights and data, and recommendations. Clearco has financed over 5500 companies to date, including Leesa Sleep, fashion-rental service Le Tote, home goods company Public Goods, shirtmaker UNTUCKit, online speech therapy practice Expressable, and digital real estate marketplace SetSchedule.
For more information visit clear.co and @getClearco.
[i] Based on figures from Crunchbase