Clearco is in muddy water.
The Toronto-based financial technology firm, founded in 2015, has abruptly reversed course. According to a memo issued to staff on Friday, a quarter of the company’s 500-strong workforce is being trimmed and it may abandon multiple international markets.
This severely contradicts the recent momentum of the company, which earlier this year included active hiring and international expansion.
CEO Andrew D’Souza and Dragon’s Den investor Michele Romanow said in an email to staff that they were rapidly expanding Clearco in response to the economy, which went from favourable breeze to “significant headwinds” faster than the executive or Dragon could anticipate.
Lamenting high interest rates, high inflation, swings in European currency, and supply chain issues, the cofounders are battling villains that every other entrepreneur is also contending with. Shopify recently shed more employees than Clearco ever had, and that’s just one example of many recently, likely with more to come.
Clearco has secured several hundred million dollars in recent years across multiple fundraising rounds. However, with a constantly expanding team and ambitious growth plans, the Canadian company was always banking on the future—a future without headwind.
Now, like Shopify and many others, the Toronto fintech must adjust.
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