Janet Bannister, Managing Partner of Real Ventures and founder of Kijiji joins the Board of Directors
TORONTO, July 23, 2020 /CNW/ – Clutch, Canada’s first online car retailing platform, has raised $7 million in Seed financing with their recent round led by Real Ventures. BrandProject, FJ Labs, Azure Capital Partners, and Global Founders Capital also participated in the round. Janet Bannister, Managing Partner of Real Ventures and founder of Kijiji.ca will be joining the Clutch Board of Directors.
At Clutch.ca, customers can browse a large selection of high-quality vehicles at low prices and access an end-to-end online purchase experience which includes financing, insurance, and at-home test drives and delivery. Clutch ensures complete peace-of-mind with each car being backed with a standard 7-day money back guarantee. Customers have loved Clutch’s fast and easy car buying experience. Andrew Bruce, a recent customer, said, “I had an awesome experience buying from Clutch. Completely online. I selected the car, applied for financing and got the car delivered to me without having to leave my house. The car also came with a 7-day money back guarantee that gave me full confidence in buying the car.”
Clutch is led by Dan Park and Steve Seibel who are passionate about applying technology to make buying a car easier, more transparent and fun. Park, CEO of Clutch said, “The convenience of buying a car online has become more important than ever. For many, owning a car provides essential transportation and freedom to get to where you need to go. We are excited to bring Canadians a better way to buy a car.”
“Increasingly, customers are demanding an easy, transparent, risk-free way to buy all goods and services online. While the auto industry has traditionally lagged other categories in providing consumers with this type of offering, Clutch is changing this. For the first time, Clutch is offering Canadians a best-in-class e-commerce experience for used cars. Clutch has quickly established itself as the leader in Canada,” said Janet Bannister, Managing Partner of Real Ventures. Andrew Black, CEO of BrandProject and Board Member at Clutch added, “Dan and Steve are building an exceptional team-oriented culture committed to always putting the customer at the center of everything they do. We are very excited to continue supporting Clutch in building the easiest, most trusted and transparent way to buy a car.”
Started in 2016, the company began its operations in Halifax and has quickly become one of the leading car retailers in Atlantic Canada. “Clutch was borne out of my frustration with the traditional car buying process which instills very little confidence and takes hours,” said Steve Seibel, founder and COO of Clutch. “Our company was founded on a number of core values including building trust with our customers, making magic with every purchase, and building a company that makes a positive impact on our communities.”
The company plans to use the new capital to help scale its business in each of the cities that it operates, as well as grow the team.
To learn more about Clutch visit www.clutch.ca.
