Dragon’s Den star’s startup gets $300-million to fuel growth of e-commerce companies

  • 📰 globeandmail
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 67 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 30%
  • Publisher: 92%

Malaysia News News

Malaysia Malaysia Latest News,Malaysia Malaysia Headlines

Dragon’s Den star’s startup gets $300-million to fuel growth of e-commerce companies GlobeTechnology

Michele Romanow's Clear Finance Technology Corp. said Wednesday it has raised US$50-million led by Boston’s Highland Capital Partners.star Michele Romanow that is aiming to transform how young e-commerce companies finance their growth has secured US$300-million in capital to fund its own expansion.

The first chunk is an investment in the Clearbanc business itself; the larger amount is a key input for the company’s business model. Clearbanc provides cash advances to e-commerce companies to spend primarily on marketing on Facebook, Google and other online channels. Clearbanc then receives a small percentage of the ensuing revenues generated by their customers until the advance is repaid, plus a 6 per cent premium .

For young companies, it’s a cheaper option to fund their marketing, compared with other choices such as bank loans – which are harder for young e-commerce companies with few physical assets or receivables to secure – running up their credit cards or selling stakes of their companies to early-stage investors. “The message and value proposition has really resonated in the market,” said Ms. Romanow, Clearbanc’s president, whose life partner Andrew D’Souza is CEO.

“I think [Clearbanc’s business model is] smart,” said Erin Bury, CEO of Final Blueprint Inc., a Toronto-based online estate-planning startup operating as Willful that has secured $45,000 in funding from Clearbanc and paid most of it back. She called Clearbanc “one of the only sources of capital for early-stage digital-product companies,” adding it has allowed her company to delay its search for equity financing.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 5. in MY

Malaysia Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Malaysia Headlines