Led · Equity · Jul 2024

Clutch is a Toronto-based online vehicle marketplace that facilitates vehicle purchases through its platform. The company will integrate iA Financial Group’s insurance and warranty offerings so customers can purchase a vehicle and select coverage in a single transaction. iA said it is using the investment to develop expertise in selling products entirely online and to add online sales as a distribution channel to its dealer services. Founded in 2017, Clutch previously raised a $7 million seed in 2020, a $60 million majority-debt Series A in March 2021, and a $100 million all-equity Series B later that year. In 2022 the startup took on $150 million in debt to expand its fleet, delayed planned hiring and cut about 22% of staff, then cut another 65% in January 2023 after a market pause halted a planned $95 million Series C. The new $10 million strategic investment from iA is intended to integrate insurance products and broaden Clutch’s online distribution and partnerships. Clutch operates an online marketplace for used vehicles, sourcing cars from auctions, private sellers and fleets, then running a 210-point reconditioning process before delivering them to customers. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Toronto, currently servicing Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. It has sold thousands of used vehicles and presently has about 1,250 vehicles in stock. About half of Clutch's revenue comes from fintech offerings such as warranty, insurance and financing. Clutch uses past debt financing to support vehicle acquisition and operates a series of warehouses and a logistics network to enable often next-day delivery on flatbeds. The company plans to expand into additional Canadian cities (including Montreal and Winnipeg) and aims to service 90% of Canadians by the end of 2023 while growing its team and scaling inventory and infrastructure. Clutch operates an online used-car marketplace that sources vehicles from auctions and private owners, reconditions them (about $1,000 per vehicle) and lists detailed, inspected cars on its site and marketplaces like Kijiji and AutoTrader. The company offers non-negotiable prices, next-day delivery, a 10-day money-back guarantee, financing and protection plans, and runs refurbishing operations out of low-cost suburban industrial locations with no showrooms or salespeople. It typically buys cars seven years old or newer, with under 100,000 kilometres and light-or-no accident histories, and performs a 210-point inspection before sale. Founded in 2016 and based in Toronto, Clutch launched in Halifax in 2017, expanded into Toronto in January 2020 and has since expanded into Vancouver with plans to enter two more Canadian cities in 2021. The 75-person company is pursuing national expansion to build an Amazon-like car-buying experience across Canada.

Participated · Series E · Mar 2022

Policygenius is an online insurance marketplace that enables users to discover coverage gaps and compare tailored policies through its Insurance Checkup™ and proprietary quoting engines. Founded in 2014 and based in Brooklyn, New York, the company has built integrations with major carriers and proprietary technology for quoting, underwriting, and fulfillment. It focuses on life, disability, home, and auto insurance and has invested in exclusive, integrated no-exam life offerings to address COVID-related medical exam impacts and improve the customer experience. Policygenius also offers Policygenius Pro and continues expanding its core businesses. In 2021 the company wrote $40 billion of new life insurance coverage, nearly 70% more than in 2019, and its home and auto new written premiums grew more than 6x from 2019 to 2021. Policygenius is on pace to be the single largest distribution platform for term life insurance this year. Policygenius provides a digital experience that guides consumers through the entire insurance buying process for multiple product lines, including life, home, auto, disability and renters. The company has built integrations with major insurance carriers and technology for quoting, underwriting and fulfillment to streamline purchase flow. In 2019 it launched a new property and casualty offering that scaled to more than $10 million in revenue in less than 12 months. Policygenius plans to use new funding for hiring and to unveil broader consumer financial protection products in 2020. The company was co-founded in 2014 by Jennifer Fitzgerald and Francois de Lame and operates from New York City and Durham, North Carolina. Its platform emphasizes carrier integrations and end-to-end digital underwriting and fulfillment. PolicyGenius has built an online marketplace and quoting engine that lets consumers answer questions, compare multiple insurance carriers and view side-by-side policy options. It began with life insurance and expanded to health, renters, long-term disability and pet insurance, and it also offers an "insurance checkup" tool to identify coverage gaps. The company reports that since its $15 million financing in January 2016 it has grown monthly revenues 7x and doubled its employee base. With the new financing it plans to expand into property and casualty policies and deepen partnerships with carrier partners. PolicyGenius has raised $52 million in venture funding to date. Co-founder and CEO Jennifer Fitzgerald said the company selected Norwest for its work with strong consumer-facing brands. PolicyGenius is a Brooklyn-based online insurance brokerage offering content, advice, online quotes and an application process for life, long-term disability, renters, and pet insurance. The company emphasizes its content and an insurance checkup tool as core product features. PolicyGenius had reached 800,000 users by the end of 2015. It operates as a broker and charges insurers a commission for each policy it places. CEO Jennifer Fitzgerald declined to disclose how many users became policyholders, so conversion and revenue figures were not provided. Fitzgerald said the company could in future white-label insurance products from carriers and sell them under its own brand. PolicyGenius operates a multi-product consumer insurance advice and shopping platform offering life, long-term disability, renters and pet insurance comparisons. Launched in July 2014 by Jennifer Fitzgerald and Francois de Lame, the company guides users through an Insurance Checkup™ — a five-minute Q&A that produces a personalized review of insurance needs. The platform combines expert content, partnerships and affiliate channels to expand accessibility and reach. PolicyGenius plans to strengthen existing product lines and refine individual insurance quoting engines. The company will scale its marketing and production teams in its Brooklyn offices and use strategic investor insight to quickly test and iterate new tools and services. The business recently completed a Series A financing to support these initiatives.

Participated · Equity · Mar 2021

Borrowell is a Toronto-based credit education company that offers free credit scores, educational content, weekly credit monitoring, personalized credit coaching and AI-powered financial product recommendations. The company raised $25M in a funding round that brings its total equity financing to $55M. Proceeds will be used to acquire Refresh Financial, a provider of credit to underserved Canadians, and to support future growth. The acquisition of Refresh Financial doubles Borrowell's revenue and employee base. Borrowell is led by co-founder and CEO Andrew Graham. The company combines consumer credit tools with digital product recommendations to expand its reach in underserved markets. Borrowell offers free credit score and report monitoring, automated credit coaching tools, and AI-driven financial product recommendations. Its AI credit coaching tool, Molly, gives users actions and insights to help improve their credit score and aggregates score, report and personalized recommendations in one place. The company recently released its AI-powered free credit monitoring app to the public after a soft launch; Molly’s beta recorded more than 36,000 downloads. Borrowell generates revenue through a loan service and referral fees when customers use its recommended products. It has partnered with 50 financial services, including major Canadian banks like CIBC, and reports more than one million users, calling itself Canada’s largest consumer fintech by user reach. Following the recent raise, the company plans to continue investing heavily in AI and machine learning. Based in Toronto, Borrowell offers free credit score monitoring, personal loans and tailored product recommendations to help Canadians make better credit decisions. The company has more than 300,000 account holders, with thousands signing up each week. Borrowell plans to use its new funding to expand credit education and scale lending, including ‘one click’ loans to prime consumers. It is making significant investments in data science and artificial intelligence to better predict needs and build financial tools. The business has expanded distribution through partnerships (including with CIBC) and focuses on improving consumer financial well‑being. The new capital will support growth of both its free information services and its loan offerings. Borrowell operates a wholly online platform that offers fast, fixed‑interest personal loans to Canadians as an alternative to high‑interest credit card debt. The company emphasizes a simple, online application that instantly provides personalized loan options to consumers with good credit. Since launching in March 2015, Borrowell has processed over $500 million in loan applications from thousands of Canadians. Borrowell positions itself as technology‑driven marketplace lender and is partnering with strategic investors to accelerate growth and adoption in the Canadian market. The company has attracted capital from financial and technology investors to expand its lending platform and market traction.