Michele Romanow

Michele Romanow
Born	1985 Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, television personality, venture capitalist
Known for	Co-founder of Clearbanc; Dragon on Dragons' Den

Michele Romanow (born 1985) is a Canadian entrepreneur in the technology sector, a television figure, board member, and venture capitalist. She is the co-founder of Clearbanc, a Toronto-based company offering revenue-sharing financing solutions tailored for online enterprises. In 2015, Romanow was recognized as one of Canada's 100 Most Influential Women, and in 2013, Forbes included her among the Top 20 Most Disruptive "Millennials on a Mission." She earned the Angel Investor of the Year award at the Canadian Innovation Awards in 2018. Romanow became part of the CBC series Dragons' Den during its tenth season.

Early life

Born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, Romanow has Ukrainian and Slovak heritage. She completed degrees in Civil Engineering and an MBA at Queen's University, where she was honored with the Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award in 2007. Her father, Marvin Romanow, previously served as President and CEO of Nexen.

Business

During her time at Queen's University in 2006, Romanow launched Tea Room, an environmentally conscious coffee shop operating with zero waste. Following graduation, she co-established several ventures including Evandale Caviar, Buytopia.ca, and SnapSaves. Groupon acquired SnapSaves in 2014 and reintroduced it to the U.S. market as Snap by Groupon.

In 2015, together with Andrew D'Souza, she co-founded Clearbanc, a venture capital firm dedicated to supporting eCommerce entrepreneurs. In June 2017, Ruma Bose initiated the Canadian Entrepreneurship Initiative, receiving backing from Romanow and Richard Branson to facilitate affordable financing for small businesses; through Clearbanc, Romanow provided female business owners with a 10% loan discount. The company rebranded to Clearco in 2021 and expanded into Germany by June 2022, allocating €500 million to local digital businesses.

Romanow holds board positions at Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN), Freshii (TSX: FRII), Shad, Queen’s School of Business, and League of Innovators. She previously served on the board of Whistler Blackcomb (TSX: WB).

As a minority stakeholder in Toronto’s Goldie nightclub—which lost its liquor license amid COVID-19 social distancing breaches—Romanow publicly dissociated from its management and declared her intention to divest her shares.

Television

Romanow is noted as the youngest member of the Canadian reality program Dragons' Den. She joined the cast in Season 10 (2015), alongside Joe Mimran, founder of Joe Fresh, and Manjit Minhas from Minhas Breweries, succeeding Arlene Dickinson, David Chilton, and Vikram Vij. She remained on the show through 2018 alongside new Dragons Lane Merrifield and Vincenzo Guzzo.

Awards

Romanow’s business achievements have been recognized with multiple honors such as:

• Angel Investor of the Year at the Canadian Innovation Awards
• Ranked #31 Fastest Growing Company on Profit Magazine’s Profit Hot 50
• Positioned #21 Fastest Growing Company on the W100 with a three-year revenue increase of 3,163%
• Finalist for EY Entrepreneur of the Year
• Inclusion in WXN’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada
• Finalist for RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award
• Recipient of Toronto Board of Trade Business Excellence Award
• The sole Canadian named "Millennial on a Mission" by Forbes
• Winner of PWI Next Gen Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2020-21