{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Frbc-disruptors.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fland-of-unicorns-yy1pkQun","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Land of Unicorns - Canada’s New Bounty of Billion-Dollar Tech Companies","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/f17078a4-4277-4c0a-8a65-e1d7050657be/1e43ed19-20c7-4111-9fe0-1f2aa6765d04/rbc-20artwork.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/fb1a47b0-f027-4158-8bd2-1bfa33cf91df\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"Land of Unicorns - Canada’s New Bounty of Billion-Dollar Tech Companies\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"Canada’s technology sector is having a year unlike any other. In the first half of 2021, Canadian tech companies raised nearly as much venture capital as they did in all of 2019. Twenty-two companies have had financing rounds of $100-million or more during this stretch—while 10 achieved “unicorn” status, now valued at over US$1-billion each.\n \nOne of those unicorns is Toronto-based Clearco—founded in 2015 to help entrepreneurs raise money through revenue-sharing agreements. This past June, Clearco raised $215 million in a round led by Japan’s SoftBank; this followed a round in April that quintupled Clearco’s valuation to $2 billion.\n\nIn this season finale for Disruptors, an RBC podcast, host John Stackhouse speaks with Clearco co-founder and Dragons’ Den superstar Michele Romanow about the crazy pandemic year for Clearco, her entrepreneurial journey—she’s also founded a coffee shop, caviar fishery and mobile couponing app—and what she thinks it will take for Canada’s booming tech sector to continue to “kick butt and take names.”"}