Michele Romanow Biography
Michele Romanow is a Canadian entrepreneur in technology, a television personality, a board director, and a venture capitalist. She co-founded Clearbanc, a Toronto-based supplier of revenue-sharing solutions to fund new online enterprises and other e-businesses, and in 2015 she was named one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women.
How old is Michele Romanow? – Age
She is 37 years old as of 12 June 2022. She was born in 1985 in Calgary, Canada.
Michele Romanow Parents – Education
Michele Romanow is the daughter of Marvin Romanow, Nexen’s former President, and CEO. He was born in Calgary, Alberta, but spent his childhood in Regina, Saskatchewan. She is of Ukrainian ancestry. She received her Civil Engineering and MBA degrees from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
Michele Romanow Wife
Michele is in a relationship with Andrew DeSouza. Andrew was the former CEO of Top Hand before joining Bionym as president.
Michele Romanow’s Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $150 million.
Michele Romanow Clearbanc
In 2015, she and Andrew D’Souza co-founded Clearbanc, a venture financing firm. Ruma Bose, the former president of Chobani Ventures LLC, created the Canadian Entrepreneurship Initiative in June 2017 with the backing of Michele Romanow and Richard Branson, Entrepreneur in Residence. According to the Globe and Mail, the non-profit is intended to assist small-business owners in obtaining low-cost financing, and Romanow promised female entrepreneurs who applied through the initiative a 10% discount on loans secured through her financial services platform, clearbanc.com. Clearbanc was renamed Clearco in 2021 and launched in Germany in June 2022 with a €500 million guarantee to local online firms.
Michele Romanow Dragons’ Den
Romanow is the youngest member of the Canadian reality show Dragons’ Den. After the departures of Arlene Dickinson, David Chilton, and Vikram Vij, she joined the cast of Season 10 in 2015, alongside Joe Fresh founder Joe Mimran and Manjit Minhas of Minhas Breweries, and she continues to feature in 2018 alongside new Dragons Lane Merrifield and Vincenzo Guzzo.
Michele Romanow Clearco
Clearbanc was renamed Clearco in 2021 and launched in Germany in June 2022 with a €500 million guarantee to local online firms.
Michele Romanow Businesses
While Romanow was a student at Queen’s University, she opened her first business, a coffee shop, in 2006. Following that, Romanow formed a partnership with Ryan Marien and Anatoliy Melnichuk, two classmates from her engineering class. Together, they established SnapSaves, Buytopia.ca, and Evandale Caviar without obtaining any funding from outside sources. After graduating, Romanow established Evandale Caviar, a vertically integrated fishery that sold high-end sturgeon caviar to posh restaurants and hotels.
She then became Sears Canada’s Director of Strategy. Romanow started Buytopia.ca in 2011. By 2013, the website had 2.5 million subscribers and offered deals on goods, services, events, and travel for over $100 million with brands like Staples, Porter Airlines, and Cirque du Soleil. Additionally, Buytopia expanded by acquiring six rivals.
By 2018, Buytopia had joined Emerge Commerce Inc., an e-commerce consolidator founded by Ghassan Halazon. Under the Emerge parent company, Emerge also acquired other deal sites like WagJag (the deal site for the Toronto Star) and Shop.ca, which had previously raised $51.5 million. Romanow began SnapSaves, a portable couponing application that gives customers cash back when they purchase specific things in the supermarket by cooperating with shopper bundled products organizations. In June 2014, Groupon acquired SnapSaves, which was relaunched in the United States as Snap by Groupon.
At the moment, Romanow serves as a director for Vail Resorts (NYSE: Freshii (TSX: MTN), FRII), Shad, Sovereign’s Institute of Business and Class of Trailblazers. She previously served as Whistler Blackcomb’s (TSX: WB).
Romanow was also an investor (minor shareholder) in the Toronto nightclub Goldie, which lost its liquor license during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada for breaking social distancing orders. Romanow publicly criticized Goldie’s management following the events that resulted in the suspension of the liquor license, stating that she would exercise her option to sell her shares and that she had no involvement in the day-to-day operations.