Toronto-based online vehicle marketplace Clutch has received a $10-million strategic investment from iA Financial Group, a Québec City-based insurance and wealth management provider.
The investment will see iA’s offerings integrated into Clutch’s platform, allowing customers to purchase a vehicle and select certain types of insurance and warranty coverage in a single transaction.
iA said that it is using the investment to develop its expertise in selling products on an “entirely online basis.”
“With this strategic investment in Clutch, we are adding online sales as a new product distribution channel to our current extensive network of automotive dealer services,” iA executive vice-president and chief growth officer Pierre Miron said in a statement. “As a result, we are well positioned to serve consumers in their preferred way when they purchase vehicles and insurance products.”
The investment comes shortly after iA closed the approximately $170-million USD acquisition of Chicago, Ill-based direct-to-consumer life insurance provider Vericity. Founded in 1892, iA is one of Canada’s largest public companies with a market capitalization eclipsing $8 billion.
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Founded in 2017, Clutch secured a $7 million seed round in 2020 before it went on to secure a $60 million, majority-debt Series A round in March 2021 and $100 million, all-equity Series B round later that year.
In 2022, the startup said it would use that funding to add 200 new roles, but ended up instead taking on $150 million in debt to expand its fleet and laying off approximately 22 percent of its employees to slow down growth and extend its runway. The cuts didn’t stop there, as Clutch went on to lay off another 65 percent of its staff in January 2023, citing market conditions that the company said halted the closing of a $95-million Series C round.
The strategic investment follows one of Clutch’s Toronto-based competitors, Trader Corporation, operator of automotive marketplace AutoTrader.ca, acquiring Collateral Management Solutions (CMS) last week. While the financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, CMS’s lien, registration, and insolvency management solutions for Canadian lenders are expected to improve Trader’s FinTech offerings.
Feature image courtesy Clutch.