Toronto-based AutoTech startup Clutch has raised $60 million in financing to continue with the expansion of its online car retailer platform across Canada.
The funding is comprised of $20 million in equity financing led by Caanan Partners, an early backer of Instacart and peer-to-peer carsharing Turo, and $40 million in debt from Upper90. Upper90 also participated in the equity portion of the round alongside Stephen Chau, the former head of product at Uber Eats, and previous investors BrandProject, Real Ventures, FJ Labs, and Global Founders Capital.
The announcement of the Series A financing comes less than one year after Clutch raised $7 million CAD in a seed round led by Real Ventures.
Clutch is led by CEO Dan Park, himself the former head of Uber Eats in Canada. The company was founded in 2016 and aims to bring speed and convenience to used car sales. The company calls itself “Canada’s first online car retailing platform” and provides consumers with an online car purchase experience, from financing and insurance to at-home delivery and test drives. The startup currently employs 68 people across Canada; mainly based out of Toronto, with a number of employees in Halifax as well. Park told BetaKit last year that Clutch envisions making buying a car “as easy as buying something from Amazon.”
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Currently operating in Halifax, Toronto, and Vancouver, Clutch is looking to use the capital to further expand its presence in Canada. The startup noted it will soon be launching in other, undisclosed, cities across the country.
Clutch reports seeing strong momentum in 2020, despite COVID-19, with the company reporting its year-over-year revenue is set to triple this year. While Clutch saw sales decline in April 2020, it reports a more than 80 percent rebound in June that nearly doubled its previous monthly sales peak.
As part of the new funding round, Laura Chau, partner at Canaan, is joining Clutch’s board of directors. According to The Globe and Mail the round is twice the size Park had expected his company to raise and puts Clutch’s value at around $100 million.
