Clockout Raises $3.5M to Build a Professional Networking App for Gen Z

Founder Krishna Dosapati has turned a personal struggle to build a network in New York into an app with 600,000 downloads and $1.1 million in recurring revenue.

Clockout, a networking app that helps people meet nearby professionals in person, has raised $3.5 million to date in funding led by 114 Ventures. The company and its 32-year-old founder and CEO, Krishna Dosapati, were profiled by Fortune, which framed the startup as a response to the isolation many younger workers describe as they enter the workforce.


Evite Ventures, Allied Ventures, Sher Ventures, Gaingels and BMPB VC are among the other investors backing the company.


What Clockout Does


Clockout sits somewhere between LinkedIn and Meetup. Users can discover professionals near them, join communities organized around an industry or a shared interest, and find local events to attend. The emphasis is on meeting in real life rather than collecting connections on a profile page.


That positioning targets a gap in the market. LinkedIn is built for job searches, recruiting and content, while event platforms are organized around the gathering instead of the ongoing relationship. Clockout is trying to own the space where a professional network and a social circle overlap.


The Founder Behind Clockout


Dosapati graduated from New York University and stayed in New York to work, where she ran into the problem firsthand. Building a network in a new city, without a campus or an established circle to lean on, proved harder than expected.


"If I faced this, how are younger people going to build their network, make friends and find a professional community?" she told Fortune.


The question has only become more pressing as remote and hybrid work reduce the casual office contact that once helped early-career employees find mentors and friends.


Clockout Traction and Revenue


Clockout launched in October 2024 and has since passed 600,000 downloads. The company reached $1.1 million in annual recurring revenue within 10 months of turning on monetization, an unusually quick path to revenue for a consumer social product. Users sent 400,000 invitations through the app in 2025.


The business runs on a freemium model. The core app is free, and a $99 annual subscription unlocks premium features. Subscription revenue means Clockout does not have to rely solely on advertising, the model that has shaped most social platforms.


Why the Clockout Funding Matters


Consumer social has been a difficult category for venture investors, with few new networks breaking through against entrenched incumbents. Clockout's early numbers suggest that a narrower promise, meet useful people near you, can succeed where broader social apps have stalled.


The startup is also arriving as concern about loneliness among Gen Z draws attention from employers and investors alike. A product that turns online discovery into in-person connection speaks directly to that concern, and paying subscribers indicate users see real value in it.


With $3.5 million raised and recurring revenue already above $1 million, Clockout has room to grow its communities and events city by city without the cash burn that has sunk other social startups.


Source


Fortune — "Meet the 32-year-old founder who raised $3.5 million to help Gen Z feel not so alone in the world"

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