Alumna Co-Founds Digital Space for Creators

Simone May’s goal is to create the No. 1 digital marketing freelance platform for creators in the United States. She and her partner, Madison Long, are on their way with their innovative Houston-based startup, Clutch (thatsclutch.com).

After graduating from Woodward in 2013, May earned a computer science degree from Purdue University in Indiana, where she met her cofounder, a business and finance major. “I went on to work for Accenture as a technology consultant for about three years. Madison worked for Microsoft and the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation.”

Now, May serves as Chief Technical Officer, managing products and informing overall strategy, while Long is CEO. Their startup began as an idea to improve the stadium experience for concert-goers by developing an app to facilitate the delivery of drinks and food to patrons in their seats. “Eventually, we landed an angel investment from a family friend for development, but then COVID hit and we had to pivot.”

After first turning to an idea centered around colleges and universities, they began developing the platform that became Clutch, a digital marketplace that connects the next generation of creators to established brands. Their vision is to to build a world where authentic, engaging work supports a more sustainable, equitable lifestyle. “We believe the future of work will be led by the next generation of creators. But for that to happen, they need a platform that allows them to empower themselves,” May said.

Clutch specializes in connecting clients with creators for video content creation, social media management, graphic design, and product photography. “It’s primarily content creation, specifically video for TikTok and Instagram, to help clients engage with their audience,” May shared. “We’ve discovered the biggest pain point for clients is that it’s super time consuming if you don’t have the budget to hire someone full-time for digital marketing. Hiring marketing agencies is really expensive, and agencies aren’t as diverse as some of our clients would like them to be. Diversity is where you can have authenticity shine through.”

Clutch creators usually work with clients on projects for three to six months. “For example, Heywell, a sparkling beverage brand hired us to start creating content on their TikTok, and we achieved 100,000 views from one of our creators. We’ve definitely seen a lot of success with short-form video creation, and the creators have a lot of creative control over what goes into a campaign.”

While developing their business, May and her partner got a boost from DivInc., an accelerator for people-of-color and women-owned businesses. “They are the reason I think we’ve been able to see the success we have now,” May said. They’ve since raised $1.2 million from lead investors including Precursor Ventures, Hearst Lab, and Purdue Foundry as well as angel investors.

“More and more Americans are going to be self-employed in the future,” said May. “We want Clutch to become a space where high-quality freelancers are supported through their careers, a space that is more accessible to diverse creators. We’re in a really good position to do that, especially with Hearst as one of our partners. They’re one of the largest media groups in the world.”

May came to Woodward in first grade, starting at the Busey Campus and moving to Main Campus in sixth grade. She remembers one of her early teachers telling her mother: “‘When Simone fails, she bounces back. She’s very resilient.’ So many times in college, I thought I was going to fail. Developing a startup comes with lots of risk of failure. Remembering that somebody else saw that in me, at such an early stage in my life, has kept me going through those circumstances.”

In Upper School, May was a basketball cheerleader and volunteered at the Jesse Draper Boys & Girls Club. Learning about leadership in Upper School helped her along the way. “I learned how to be more than just a student. I always knew I wanted to climb the ladder and run my own company. I enjoyed my personal experience, but I also learned a lot about what people don’t have access to, which inspires me to keep going even when times get rough,” she said.

“I made some of my lifelong friends at Woodward,” she added. “Woodward did a really good job of preparing me for college and preparing me to work hard and think critically. It was a great place to develop as a kid and as a teenager, where I could focus on my studies and things that made me happy.”