Startup profile · funding coverage
Clerky funding, valuation and investors
YC S11 legal-paperwork platform for high-growth startups and the attorneys who represent them.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Not publicly disclosed
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
Not publicly disclosed
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
private
Stage not recorded · San Francisco, California
Overview
Clerky is a San Francisco legal-software company founded by former startup attorneys Darby Wong and Chris Field. It automates routine startup paperwork — formation, financing, hiring, and governance — for founders and outside counsel. Y Combinator lists Clerky in the Summer 2011 batch. On August 26, 2026 Clerky announced that it has agreed to join Stripe and that the same team will keep building for startups and attorneys. Terms were not disclosed and the post does not say the transaction closed. Company operating claims in that post: Clerky startups account for 23% of Silicon Valley seed and pre-seed financings, have raised over $140 billion in aggregate venture capital, and startup formation on Clerky grew 6.5x faster in the past year than Clerky’s historical average. Those figures are company-disclosed, not independently audited here. Status remains private until a close post. Stripe Atlas already offers Delaware incorporation; Clerky’s stated audience includes attorneys handling later corporate actions.
Why Clerky is interesting
August 26, 2026: Clerky said it has agreed to join Stripe. No price. The post does not describe the deal as closed. Same month Stripe announced OpenRouter ($7.5B is still press and that deal is also not closed).
Product & use cases
Document automation for Delaware formation, financings, equity grants, hiring paperwork, and ongoing corporate maintenance, used by startups and their law firms.
- Incorporating a Delaware C-corp with attorney review
- Seed / pre-seed financing paperwork
- Option grants and 83(b) filings
Key facts
- Aug 26, 2026: agreed to join Stripe; no price; not described as closed
- YC Summer 2011
- Company: 23% of SV seed/pre-seed financings; >$140B aggregate VC (company claims)
- Same month as Stripe–OpenRouter announcement (also not closed; $7.5B is NYT)
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from Clerky's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: Attorney-of-record workflows after formation, versus Stripe Atlas’s incorporate-then-payments funnel. The August 26 announcement is a distribution story, not a priced close.
Clerky is an announced, unpriced add-on to Stripe’s founder stack. Diligence is close vs announce, Atlas overlap, and whether the 23% / $140B claims survive a quality-of-earnings review — none of which the company post answers.
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Stripe Atlas incumbent
Stripe’s own incorporation product since 2016. Overlap on Delaware formation. Clerky’s post does not say Atlas is retired.
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OpenRouter adjacent
Stripe’s other August 2026 announced acquisition. Model routing, not legal paper. See /startup/openrouter.
Notable stories
- Keep status private until Clerky or Stripe publish a close. ‘Agreed to join’ is not a close certificate.
Industries
Related funding articles
Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover Clerky's financing or category context.
FAQs about Clerky
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