Early Life and Education
Michele Romanow was born in 1985 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. She is of Ukrainian and Slovak descent. Википедия+2World Economic Forum+2
Romanow attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where she earned degrees in Civil Engineering and later an MBA. While at Queen’s, she received the Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award in 2007, the school’s highest honor for a student who excels in academics, leadership, and service. Википедия+2World Economic Forum+2
Early Ventures and Learning Through Failure
While still a student, in 2006, Michele co-founded The Tea Room, a coffee shop at Queen’s University designed as a zero-consumer-waste business. Everything used was biodegradable and composted. The shop was intended as a sustainable project, combining business with environmental ethics. secretleaders.com+3Википедия+3World Economic Forum+3
After that, she co-founded a commercial caviar business, Evandale Caviar, with partner Anatoliy Melnichuk. The venture involved sourcing sturgeon, processing caviar, and selling to restaurants. However, the 2008 financial crisis severely impacted luxury demand, and the business struggled. Romanow has often cited this failure as formative — teaching resilience, understanding market realities, and the importance of adapting under pressure. speakers.ca+2World Economic Forum+2
Scaling Up: Buytopia, SnapSaves, and Becoming a “Dragon”
After her early experiments, Romanow founded Buytopia.ca, a Canadian group deals and coupon site. She then co-founded SnapSaves, a digital coupon startup, which was later acquired by Groupon. These ventures helped her build experience in e-commerce, fundraising, operations, and customer acquisition. Википедия+1
In 2015, she joined CBC’s Dragons’ Den (Canada’s version of Shark Tank) as the youngest “Dragon.” This platform increased her visibility, expanded her network, and gave her insight into what many founders do right — and wrong. Википедия+1
Clearco (formerly Clearbanc): Reinventing Startup Funding
Probably Michele’s most high-profile venture is Clearco, co-founded in 2015 (rebranded in 2021) with Andrew D’Souza. The idea behind Clearco was to offer capital to e-commerce businesses not through taking equity, but by taking a share of revenues until the investment is repaid plus a fee. This model aims to be fairer, faster, more data-driven, and more accessible for founders who might otherwise find venture capital difficult to get. smith.queensu.ca+3Википедия+3World Economic Forum+3
Clearco has invested billions of dollars into thousands of companies in multiple countries, with strong emphasis on supporting businesses led by women and underrepresented founders. Its algorithmic, numbers-based decision process is designed to reduce bias. World Economic Forum+2smith.queensu.ca+2
Board, Advisory Roles & Influence
Beyond her startup work, Romanow is on several boards and advisory roles. She has been a director for Vail Resorts, BBTV, and Queen’s School of Business. Previously she has held directorships with Freshii, Whistler Blackcomb, SHAD International, and League of Innovators. World Economic Forum+2Википедия+2
She also co-founded the Canadian Entrepreneurship Initiative with Sir Richard Branson to promote entrepreneurship, especially among women. World Economic Forum+1
Public Recognition & Awards
Romanow’s achievements have earned her quite a few recognitions:
- She was named one of Forbes’ 20 Most Disruptive „Millennials on a Mission”. Википедия+1
- At various points, she has been listed among Canada’s Most Powerful Women. Википедия+1
- She was selected for Fortune’s 40 Under 40. World Economic Forum
- Canadian Innovation Awards’ Angel Investor of the Year (2018) and other national awards. Википедия+1
Philosophy, Leadership, & Impact
Michele Romanow often emphasizes resilience, data-driven decisions, accessibility, and fairness in how she runs her businesses. She believes many entrepreneurs, especially those from underrepresented groups, are shut out not because of weak ideas, but because they don’t look the part (credentials, network, etc.). Clearco’s model seeks to counteract that. secretleaders.com+1
She is also an advocate of iterating fast, learning from failures (including her early ventures), being customer-focused, and being willing to pivot when needed. Her background in engineering appears to have influenced her mindset about problem-solving, metrics, and structure. speakers.ca+1
Challenges & Criticism
While generally respected, Romanow has faced criticism — as often happens with high-growth fintechs — around issues like the terms of financing, the transparency of revenue-share models, and ensuring that businesses using Clearco’s capital remain viable under the payback scheme. Also, being in the public eye via Dragons’ Den subjects her to higher scrutiny. However, many of these criticisms are part of the growth phase of a finance-technology innovator. (Sources are less explicit about major scandals.) World Economic Forum+1
Recent Developments
In recent years, Clearco expanded internationally and rebranded from Clearbanc to Clearco. The company increased its funding capacity and launched into markets like Germany with significant capital pledges to support online businesses. Википедия+1
Romanow continues to invest, counsel, speak publicly on fintech, AI, entrepreneurship, and is considered one of the more influential startup leaders in Canada and beyond. Her board roles and leadership contributions suggest an ongoing impact in how early-stage investment can evolve. World Economic Forum+1
Conclusion
Michele Romanow’s story is a strong example of how innovation + perseverance + a willingness to experiment (even failing) can lead to substantial impact. From a student running a zero-waste coffee shop, to building startups, to founding a fintech that aims to change how venture capital works, her journey showcases practicality rooted in values: fairness, data, access. She remains one of the most interesting figures in entrepreneurship today, especially in fields that intersect finance, technology, and inclusivity.
Bibliography
- Michele Romanow — Wikipedia. Википедия
- Michele Romanow profile — World Economic Forum. World Economic Forum
- Smith School of Business advisory bio — Queen’s University. smith.queensu.ca
- “From Caviar to Clearco: How Michele Romanow Made It” — Speakers.ca. speakers.ca
- “How Clearco was born | Co-founders Michele Romanow” — SecretLeaders blog. secretleaders.com
