Clutch opens BC facility as it hits the gas on renewed Western Canada expansion

Over two years after pumping the brakes on all markets west of Ontario, Toronto-based Clutch has resumed expanding its Western Canadian presence. The online used car retailer has opened a new 30,500-sq. ft. facility in Richmond, British Columbia (BC), just south of Vancouver.

CEO Dan Park called the move “a clear sign of how far we’ve come.”

This hub, which opened in June, will serve as Clutch’s operational headquarters for Western Canada, housing its logistics, inspection, reconditioning, and vehicle drop-off services across BC, including the Lower Mainland and beyond.

Clutch currently has 510 employees, eight of which are located in BC. Brent Gudelot is leading Clutch’s efforts in the region as head of Western Canada.

Gudelot told BetaKit that the company expects to hire as many as 1,000 people in total across its business over the next two years, including as many as 400 in Western Canada, as it works to expand its offering nationwide. This will include customer support staff, vehicle inspectors, licensed automotive technicians, car detailers, drivers, and logistics workers.

In a statement, CEO Dan Park called the Richmond hub “a major step forward in our vision for Clutch and a clear sign of how far we’ve come.”

“This expansion is a natural next step in our mission to make vehicle transactions easier, more transparent, and accessible for all Canadians, from coast to coast,” Park told BetaKit.

Founded in 2016, Clutch aims to make buying and selling vehicles simpler and more transparent. The company purchases used vehicles directly from Canadians before reconditioning and selling them for a profit through its digital platform. Clutch currently buys and sells cars in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

In BC—where Clutch returned this March—the company is currently purchasing vehicles from consumers, and plans to begin selling them to others by 2026, Gudelot said.

Clutch previously operated out of the same Richmond facility between 2021 and 2023, before laying off staff and pulling back to focus on Ontario and the Maritimes. “It’s a comeback that allows us to reintroduce our services to BC customers and set the stage for launching our full end-to-end experience in the near future,” Park said.

While Clutch has seen its share of challenges over the past few years amid the tech downturn, the company has rebounded and achieved some new heights during the first half of 2025, growing 70 percent since January (its fastest ever year-to-date growth) and racing past $1 billion CAD worth of total cars purchased. Clutch now claims it is buying more than $3 million in vehicles per day.

Clutch co-founder and COO Stephen Seibel and CEO Dan Park joined the BetaKit Podcast earlier this year to detail the bumpy road Clutch has navigated, how the company regained traction, and how it plans to contend with United States (US) tariffs.

Clutch underwent multiple layoffs to slow its growth and extend its runway during a tough fundraising market, including a set of cuts in 2023 after losing out on a potential $95-million Series C before settling on a $20-million round that slashed its valuation to $15 million.

After growing its revenue by 81 percent to $320 million and demonstrating profitability in 2024, the company recovered with a $50-million Series D in February that put its value above the previous peak of $575 million. Clutch secured that capital to restart its Western Canada expansion, hire staff, and build new reconditioning facilities across Canada.

This year, Clutch has opened a flagship 100,000-sq. ft. facility in Mississauga, Ont., just west of Toronto, and brought on Properly co-founder and former CEO Anshul Ruparell as CFO.

According to Park, the impact of recent US tariff hikes on Clutch’s business has been negligible. “We buy our cars here in Canada, we employ Canadians, and we serve Canadian customers—so we have not seen any material impact,” he said.

But Park said Clutch is aware that the auto industry can change quickly, noting that the company is “always keeping an eye” on global developments and their impact domestically.

In the Canadian market, Clutch could soon have another competitor.: Amazon recently revealed that it also wants to sell used vehicles online, starting with the United States before eventually rolling out internationally. For his part, Park said he views this as validation.

“Amazon’s move into car retail reinforces what we’ve believed at Clutch since day one: the future of car buying is online,” he said. “It’s encouraging to see a global player validate the shift in consumer expectations.”

Park argued that Clutch’s model is different, noting that Amazon still relies on traditional dealerships where Clutch owns all of the cars in its inventory. “It’s that control that allows us to deliver a simpler, more transparent experience and stand behind every car we sell,” he added.

Feature image courtesy Clutch.