16: Craig Rowe, founder of Clear Risk

Craig Rowe, founder of Clear Risk and chair of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Tech industry association, TechNL joins us to discuss his entrepreneurial start, dedication to advancing the tech sector in NL and his numerous board activities. He is an entrepreneur, and an experienced board member who is very involved in the tech and startup sectors in NL. Craig came from a risk management and insurance background and started Clear Risk in 2006 to solve some of the technology challenges he saw in his industry. As CEO Craig has led ClearRisk to a point where it is the leading provider of risk management software in Canada, with significant USA penetration. In 2014 Craig started a second company, Optimized Insurance, to provide innovative solutions to NL businesses with a tech sector specialty. In addition to these companies, Craig regularly works with tech startups as a mentor and advisor. Concurrent to his professional career, Craig has been very involved as a director on not-for-profit and charity boards. He was NL Chair of his two professional associations, The Insurance Institute of NL, and the NL Risk and Insurance Management Society, and served on their national and international boards respectively. He has served on numerous other boards including Junior Achievement, and Common Ground. Craig’s charitable work is extensive, most notably he was Chair of the Board of YMCA of Northeast Avalon, chaired the project to build the Ches Penney Family Y, and is past Chair of the Board of YMCA Canada. Craig’s interest in TechNL is to use his experience to continue to give back to the tech sector in NL. He feels that the tech sector represents the long-term sustainable industry that will drive the NL economy for the next thousand years.