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EP 101: Unicorn Founder Raises $8M Using AI (Andrew D’Souza, Clearco & Bordy.ai)
Description
Andrew D’Souza, ex-co-founder of Clearco and now Boardy.ai, explains how he went from building a billion-dollar FinTech company to creating an AI “super-connector” that changes how founders meet investors.
Andrew breaks down why warm intros no longer work, how Boardy.ai sparked investor interest before he was even fundraising, and why real-time AI conversations may become the future of dealmaking.
He also shares ideas on founder psychology, network effects, and the next chapter of AI-driven relationship building.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
How Andrew D’Souza raised $8M using an AI agent (Bordy.ai)
Why the “warm intro” is dead — and what replaces it
How Clearco scaled to a $2.5B unicorn
Why investors chase the same 50 deals (and what founders should do instead)
A breakdown of what’s actually broken in fundraising today
The mechanics of AI-driven dealflow, investor matching, and credibility building
Raising capital?
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Here's what you're in for:
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:16 Using AI to Raise Funds
01:11 The Evolution of Fundraising
05:02 Clear Co: Building a FinTech Unicorn
08:56 Transitioning from Clearco to AI
18:37 The Birth of Boardy
25:45 The Initial Growth Strategy
26:23 Defining Bordy's Vision and Purpose
27:23 Building a Horizontal AI Platform
27:55 Achieving Network Effects and User Success Stories
28:57 Experimenting with Investor-Founders Matching
30:12 The Importance of Trust in Business Introductions
31:41 Boardy's Unique Onboarding Process
36:23 Future Plans: Monetization and Expansion
47:54 The Role of AI in Human Relationships
53:17 How to Connect with Andrew
ABOUT Andrew D’Souza
Andrew D’Souza is a veteran founder and tech operator best known for co-founding and leading Clearco, the company that transformed non-dilutive capital and funded 10,000+ startups with over $2.5B deployed. With a background in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Andrew now invests, advises, and serves as a visiting partner at HF0, helping high-potential founders scale faster and build category-defining companies.
You can reach out to Andrew through:
Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/andrewdsouza
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/andrewdsouza/
Website:https://www.boardy.ai/
ABOUT JASON KIRBY
Jason Kirby is the co-founder of Thunder, a tech-enabled investment bank helping fou