Michele Romanow’s Clearco sheds more staff amid strategic partnership

After laying off a quarter of its workforce at the end of July, Toronto-based Clearco is pulling out the axe once again.

The e-commerce investing company, co-founded by Dragon’s Den star Michele Romanow, has cut an additional 60 employees as it hands off its international business.

The layoffs come as Clearco announced a strategic partnership with Outfund, the U.K. and Australia’s largest e-commerce investor.

While details of the partnership have not been disclosed, the company said the agreement does not include any of its technology, intellectual property, infrastructure, operations, or staff in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and Germany.

In a statement on August 30, 2022, Romanow said Clearco is confident that the reduction is the best decision for customers who will continue to benefit from Outfund’s revenue-based financing model.

“It is of course with great regret that we have had to let our international team go as part of this partnership,” she said. “They are a hugely talented team and we are confident that we will be able to support them in their next steps.”

The Canadian tech company and others, including Shopify, Hootsuite, Article, Unbounce, Q4, and Wealthsimple, have significantly trimmed their workforces in a bid to lower costs amid a sector-wide downturn.

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Termination agreements for Clearco employees

As part of the layoff announcement, Clearco said it will provide impacted workers with severance pay and a two-year window to exercise equity.

In Canada, employees and senior executives at Clearco are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing or corporate restructuring.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

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WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract. We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair, and how to get proper compensation if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you aren’t given the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.