Houston-founded digital creator platform Clutch exits beta, plans hiring

A pair of Houston-based founders hit a major milestone as their digital creator platform went live out of its beta stage at the end of January. Clutch co-founders Madison Long and Simone May told the Houston Business Journal they are seeing immediate growth.

Clutch matched over 250 creators and potential brand partners, or clients, during its beta phase, which began in August 2022. The platform is designed to ease collaborations between creators looking for value from their videos and clients looking for services including social media management, video creation, video editing, content creation and graphic design projects.

The idea behind the service came from watching now-scrapped initiatives that paid creators for content launched by the likes of Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META), and YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL). Long, who serves as the company’s CEO, said the co-founders noticed only the earliest waves of creators in those initiatives were able to benefit before the programs were scrapped.

“When Instagram first launched reels, they were paying creators a ton of money to post reels — that's completely gone,” Long said. “Creators are tired of being burnt out from platform to platform and then later realizing, you know, what made me a lot of money last year is not going to make me the same this year.”

Clutch’s plans for 2023 are to capitalize on its launch by raising additional funds and expanding its workforce. The company raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding in 2022 through a round led by San Francisco-based Precursor Ventures, including investments from Austin-based Capital Factory and HearstLab, owned by media giant Hearst.

Long said the company is looking for a user interface and user experience designer. Once additional funding is secured, the company plans to hire an additional three to four employees to add to its eight-person team.

According to May, the company’s chief technical officer, Clutch differentiates itself from other platforms by relying on human vetting for creators and clients who are looking to use the service, instead of relying on an algorithm.

“There is a human element that we have learned that still needs to be in place in order for this interaction to be satisfying for both the client and the creator,” May said.

Clutch’s ideal partner clients are newer brands looking for visibility through digital creators. Current social media algorithms help emerging brands find and retain their first waves of views, Long said.

“When something kind of blows up and you might get your first million views, you'd love for that to be able to reach your target audience, no matter where they might stay,” Long said.

Clutch educates emerging creators on the value of their content, May said. The platform’s interface is designed to allow flexible negotiation between creators and clients. Both co-founders said they noticed new creators who needed guidance on the valuable aspects of their content during the beta period.

“I don't go believing that every single creator has to have a niche where they only stick to dog content because their first viral videos were with their pet,” Long said. “But I do think [something else] in that viral video with your pet is what really drew people. Was it the humor you brought to it? I do think that people can monetize this type of work, even with a very small following.”

Other features of the platform include the ability to provide live updates on work progress once creators and clients agree on a collaboration.

Long and May are alumni of Austin-based DivInc’s first Houston accelerator cohort, which was announced in 2021. The nonprofit, which focuses on helping underrepresented entrepreneurs make connections and raise capital, also contributed to $350,000 in angel investment for Clutch.

The platform was previously known as Campus Concierge and focused on monetizing college student side hustles before the company pivoted to focus on digital creators.

Despite big tech companies reporting slow year-end results in 2022 and layoffs in the industry, Long said the fact that creators on Clutch are not tied to any one platform could bolster its staying power.

“Our creators are working across a ton of platforms, including Twitter, Pinterest or a company's website,” Long said. “Short-form video is here to stay regardless of what platform is kind of the next big thing.”