Startup Clerk has successfully raised $30 million in a Series B round led by CRV, with noteworthy participation from Stripe, Andreessen Horowitz, and Madrona. This brings Clerk’s total raised capital to an impressive $55.5 million, marking a pivotal moment for the startup.
Clerk, founded in March 2019 by brothers Colin and Braden Sidoti, engineers with degrees from MIT and Washington University in St. Louis, respectively, has quickly gained traction by offering developer tools for authentication. The startup’s unique approach involves delivering drop-in components coded in React, an open-source front-end JavaScript library, aimed at simplifying the often complex tasks of user authentication and authorization.
The latest funding round is expected to propel Clerk beyond authentication into the realm of authorization, where the focus shifts from merely identifying users to determining their permissions within an application. Colin Sidoti, the CEO, mentioned in an email interview with TechCrunch, “Authorization has always been part of our product vision, but we needed a successful authentication product to build atop.” The surge in demand for authorization services follows the remarkable growth of Clerk’s authentication service in 2023, creating a backlog of customers seeking expanded functionalities.
Clerk distinguishes itself as a self-serve platform, with pricing structured based on the number of monthly active users. The startup employs sophisticated tools to detect malicious activities such as bots while efficiently managing user data on behalf of its customers. Colin highlighted the challenges faced by software companies in outsourcing authentication and authorization and emphasized Clerk’s unique approach, stating, “To work around this, Clerk defines authentication a little differently than our competitors: in some areas we do more, in others we do less.”
As Clerk plans to extend its capabilities, it will soon integrate Stripe Billing into its services to enhance user permissions based on subscription plans. The integration is particularly significant given Stripe’s participation in the funding round, marking the beginning of a strategic partnership between Clerk and Stripe.
Clerk currently boasts around 1,300 paying customers managing 16 million users and plans to expand its workforce from 55 to 80 employees by the end of the year. In a competitive landscape, Clerk faces challenges from emerging players like Descope, Stytch, and WorkOS. Colin expressed optimism about Clerk’s trajectory, stating, “2023 was a phenomenal year for Clerk, and we anticipate continued acceleration in 2024.” The Series B funding positions Clerk to achieve its ambitious goals of innovation and growth in the evolving landscape of user authentication and authorization services.
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