We're thrilled to announce a new partnership with Rho to make it as easy as possible for startups to get up and running.

Startups can now start a Rho application pre-filled with information from the legal paperwork they've done on Clerky. It just takes one click. Then once the Rho account is open, we'll store the wire instructions for pre-filling into seed financing paperwork.

Not only that, but Rho is offering qualifying Clerky startups a $1,600 cash bonus!1 That’s enough to cover incorporation on Clerky and much more. All you have to do is open an account with Rho through Clerky, then deposit $20k within 90 days.

Here's what startups can get with Rho: 

  • $0 monthly subscription fees
  • $0 fee, same-day ACH and wires with Rho checking
  • Up to 4.3% yield2 when you invest with Rho Treasury (see website for latest rates)
  • Up to 2% cashback3 on corporate cards, plus unlimited virtual cards for your team
  • Automated bill pay and spend approvals
  • 24/7 email, chat, and phone support + dedicated customer representatives

Want to bank with Rho and get your bonus? Just go to Banking for your team and select Rho to apply.

Thousands of startups like Perplexity, Cal.com, and Public.com use Rho, so we're excited to be making it easier for Clerky startups to get started with Rho. Clerky has long had the largest ecosystem of top banking platforms for startups — with the addition of Rho today, that ecosystem is now even better.


Rho is a fintech company, not a bank or an FDIC-insured depository institution. Checking account and card services provided by Webster Bank N.A., member FDIC. Savings account services provided by American Deposit Management Co. and its partner banks. International and foreign currency payment services are provided by Wise US Inc. FDIC deposit insurance coverage is available only to protect you against the failure of an FDIC-insured bank that holds your deposits and subject to FDIC limitations and requirements. It does not protect you against the failure of Rho or other third party. Products and services offered through the Rho platform are subject to approval.

The Rho Corporate Cards are issued by Webster Bank N.A., member FDIC pursuant to a license from Mastercard, subject to approval.

Investment management and advisory services provided by RBB Treasury LLC dba Rho Treasury, an SEC-registered investment adviser and subsidiary of Rho. Rho Treasury investments are not deposits or other obligations of Webster Bank N.A., or American Deposit Management Co.’s partner banks, are not FDIC insured, are not guaranteed and may lose value. Investment products involve risk, including the possible loss of the principal invested, and past performance does not future results. Treasury and custodial services provided through Apex Clearing Corp. and Interactive Brokers LLC, registered broker dealers and members FINRA/SIPC.

1 Eligible Clerky startups: Earn a $1,600.00 USD credit with $20,000.00 USD avg. daily balance/first 90 days and primary account usage. New customers only, subject to Rho's verification. Cannot combine offers. Rho may discontinue, suspend benefits or require repayment for misuse. See Rewards Terms for details. Rho is a fintech, not a bank.

2 This reflects the gross yield based on 90-day Treasury Bill rates as of 03/04/2025. The advertised yield does not include the annual fee, which ranges from 0.15% for deposits of $20M or more to 0.6% (the maximum annual fee) for deposits under $2M. Individual results may vary depending on the actual investment date and investment products selected. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance results. The yield is variable and fluctuates without prior notice. The rate shown is before fees. Fees and costs may reduce the actual returns received. The amount of Treasury Bills available at a particular yield will depend upon the sellers’ offer size; any remaining cash balance after the purchase may not earn the same yield.

3 Up to 2% cashback; terms and conditions apply. See eligibility and complete Rho Cashback Rewards Program terms and conditions here.

10
March
2025

What's new:

Even more new perks for your startup:

  • Retool — $25,000 in free credits for 1 year, plus 25% off paid plans the following year
  • Supabase — $300 of free Supabase credits over 12 months
  • Zeni — 20% off the annual price for 1 year, and 10% off after that
  • Pilot — free DE franchise tax filing, plus you can now choose between 20% off Pilot Core for 6 months or 1 free year of cash-basis bookkeeping
  • Avalara — 20% off your first year

Plus, our first ever personal perk for startup founders. Founders of Clerky startups are now eligible to skip the waitlist and get 6 free months of Mercury Personal, Mercury's new personal banking* product! We already have a vast selection of perks for your startup at Clerky, but this is our first ever perk for your personal life

* Subject to terms and conditions. Mercury Personal is a subscription service with an annual fee of $240. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Deposits in checking and savings accounts are held by banking services partner, Choice Financial Group; Member FDIC.

07
January
2025

Filing a FinCEN BOI report is no longer required (for now) — though your startup may still want to file one anyway. 

Here's what you need to know: 

FinCEN BOI reports are not currently required, as of December 26, 2024. A court ruling suspended the BOI report requirement on December 3, 2024. A subsequent court ruling removed that suspension on December 23, but another court ruling reinstated the suspension on December 26.

Here's what FinCEN says:

"In light of a recent federal court order, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do while the order remains in force. However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.

More information is available on FinCEN's website at https://www.fincen.gov/boi"

Your startup could suddenly be required again to file a BOI report with little notice. There are several active lawsuits challenging FinCEN's BOI reporting requirement. As we saw on December 23, developments in these lawsuits could lead to BOI reports suddenly being required again.

Some startups are filing BOI reports even though they're not required. A reason to do this is to avoid the chance of a late filing, which can occur if the BOI report requirement is reinstated and you either don't notice it or don't have enough time to meet the deadline. It can also make sense to voluntarily file a BOI report if you determine the benefit of not having to pay attention to the situation outweighs the cost of potentially disclosing BOI information to FinCEN for no reason.

If you decide not to file a BOI report for now, be prepared to file at a moment's notice. Many startup attorneys are recommending being prepared to file the BOI report at a moment's notice if you choose not to file one for now. When the December 23 court ruling led to the BOI reporting requirement being reinstated, FinCEN extended deadlines for many businesses, but not all. A small number of businesses were required to file an initial BOI report by the next day, on December 24.

Want to proceed with voluntarily filing a BOI report? If you decide to file a BOI report even though they're not required, you can file directly with FinCEN. While Clerky has a tool for filing BOI reports, FinCEN has temporarily suspended API submissions for everyone, including Clerky.

Here are the latest deadlines FinCEN published prior to the BOI report requirement being suspended again:

  • For startups incorporated before January 1, 2024
    • Deadline: January 13, 2025
  • For startups incorporated January 1 through September 3, 2024
    • Deadline: 90 days after incorporation
  • For startups incorporated September 4 through September 24, 2024
    • Deadline: January 13, 2025
  • For startups incorporated September 25 through December 2, 2024
    • Deadline: 90 days after incorporation
  • For startups incorporated December 3 through December 23, 2024
    • Deadline: 111 days after incorporation
  • For startups incorporated December 24 through December 31, 2024
    • Deadline: 90 days after incorporation
  • For startups incorporated January 1, 2025 or later
    • Deadline: 30 days after incorporation

If the BOI report requirement is reinstated, FinCEN may extend some or all of these deadlines, though there's no guarantee that they will.

Never heard of BOI reports before? Check out this help center article to learn more about them.

The above reflects our understanding of the situation as of December 26, 2024. We'll continue to monitor ongoing lawsuits regarding the FinCEN BOI report requirement closely.

26
December
2024

If you're incorporating a new startup soon, you might be able to save around $400.  How?  By avoiding the 2024 Delaware franchise tax.

Delaware franchise taxes aren't pro-rated, which means that a Delaware corporation incorporating on December 31, 2024 will have to pay the same franchise tax for 2024 as one that incorporated on January 1, 2024. If you have investors ready to wire funds, this probably isn’t a big deal.  But if you're not in a rush, it could be a waste of money.

To avoid this, we can help you take advantage of a little-known feature of Delaware law that allows you to specify the effective date of an incorporation.  If you specify January 1, 2025, your corporation won't exist until then, which means it won't need to pay the 2024 franchise tax. This feature is available to all our customers at no extra charge.

Of course, you won't be able to do other legal paperwork or open bank accounts until the incorporation is effective.  So why not just wait until January 1 to submit your incorporation paperwork?  Two reasons:

You want to make sure no one else takes your startup's name.

It can feel like a minor miracle to find a name you like that isn't already taken.  By filing your incorporation paperwork, you can secure the name you want when the filing is accepted, even if the incorporation won’t be effective until later.  You could reserve the name instead, but that adds unnecessary expense and complexity to the process.

You want to hit the ground running in 2025.

Maybe you’ve decided to wait until after the end-of-year holidays to focus on your new startup.  Filing your incorporation paperwork before you ring in the new year can help save you some time in 2025.

In addition, the start of a new year can be busy for the Delaware Division of Corporations, which can lead to delays in processing new incorporations.  Filing ahead of time can help you beat the crowds and avoid those delays.

We've made January 1 effective date incorporations available to startup founders for many years, and are excited to bring them back again.  From now until the end of the year, you'll be able to have your incorporation take effect on January 1, 2025 when you incorporate a new startup on Clerky.

Option to choose a January 1 effective date on Clerky

Of course, if you prefer, you can still choose to have it take effect immediately when the Delaware Division of Corporation files it.

To get started, sign up for Clerky now.  Questions?  Feel free to reach out!

07
November
2024

New VIP developer perks from Anthropic:

  • $500 in API credits for Claude (now supporting tool use!)
  • Priority support
  • Increased rate limits

What's new:

Even more new perks:

  • Vouch — save up to 5% on coverage
  • PostHog — up to $55,000 of free credit
  • Linear — 6 free months
  • Zeplin — 6 free months of the Team plan
  • Whimsical — 12 free months of the Pro plan, plus VIP status
16
August
2024

Exciting news for startup founders who are looking to enter the US! The International Entrepreneur Rule (IER) might now be easier than ever to use, after recent updates by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) (more on that below).

To help startups take advantage of this potentially improved process, we've arranged for special IER perks worth up to $3,000:

  • For a limited time, Mercury** is offering $2,000 in cash to Clerky startups who deposit the IER fundraising requirement amount ($264,147) within 90 days*
  • Ellis Legal, an immigration law firm, is offering Clerky startups $1,000 off one IER application
  • SW Law Group, an immigration law firm, is offering Clerky startups 10% off one IER application

To get the Mercury perk, make sure to apply for a Mercury account from your formation checklist on Clerky. To get the perks for Ellis Legal or SW Law Group, go to the Perks page for your startup's team on Clerky and then look for the Immigration category.

On top of these perks, Clerky is also the easiest and fastest way to meet the IER requirements:

  1. Incorporate Delaware corporation
  2. Issue stock to founders
    • Applicants have to own at least 10% of the startup
    • We're the only startup incorporation service to help you get the complete set of attorney-recommended 83(b) election evidence 😎 (requires paid add-on).
  3. Open Mercury account without having to wait for an EIN from the IRS
    • Mercury can help you open an account even while you're waiting for your EIN, so you can get started closing investors as soon as possible. Just make sure to start your Mercury application from your formation checklist on Clerky to enable this.
  4. Issue safe or convertible notes
    • Make sure to issue at least the amount required for the IER. As of July 2024, the threshold is $264,147.

* Earn a cash bonus of $1,000 by depositing at least $20,000 within 90 days of account opening and an additional cash bonus of $1,000 by depositing at least $264,147 within 90 days of account opening. This offer can't be combined with any other offers.
** Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC.

What is the IER?

The IER allows USCIS to grant startup founders parole to enter the US. Specifically, the IER makes it possible for most non-US startup founders to enter the US as long as they've raised more than $264,147 (as of July 2024) from investors meeting certain criteria. You have to own at least 10% of your startup, and up to three co-founders from the same startup can apply. You can stay in the US for 2.5 years (possibly up to 5) and your spouses can even work in the US too.

The IER has been available since 2021 but has not been popular due in part to very long processing times and unclear requirements. USCIS might be fixing that though. Late last week, they announced that they've worked through the backlog of applications and are actively encouraging people to apply. They also published new FAQs that make it easier for founders to apply by giving more clarity around the process.

We can't be certain, but many are speculating that the announcement and changes signal that USCIS wants to get more startup founders into the US and will be processing applications faster.

Things to consider

The IER could become a great option for non-US startup founders and we're excited for that possibility, but it's important to note:

  • Parole isn't the same thing as a visa and there are some practical differences. You should consult an immigration attorney to determine what's best for your specific circumstances.
  • Many immigration attorneys recommend thinking of the IER as a backup to a visa. If you're applying for a visa to be able to work on your startup in the US, you can think of the IER as a backup that you might want to apply for at the same time. Or, the IER might be your only option if you're not eligible to apply for a visa.
  • The USCIS has specific requirements for the IER. For example, there are requirements that most well-known startup investors will meet, but that not all startup investors will meet. Please don't take any actions in anticipation of using the IER without first consulting an immigration attorney to make sure you take all the requirements into account.
  • The funding threshold ($264,147 as of the date of this post) is adjusted for inflation every three years and is next due to be adjusted in October 2024. Based on recent inflation data, we expect the funding threshold to increase when it's adjusted.
  • When a new president is elected this November, the new administration may have different views on the IER. While the USCIS may be signaling that they're eager to grant more parole now, this may change when a new administration takes over in January.
  • Some countries may have an exit tax for startups that move to another country (like the US). If you're in such a country and your startup raises money from investors, your startup could be considered valuable and trigger an exit tax. You should consult a tax advisor in your country if you have questions about this.

Finally, please keep in mind that it's too soon to know what startups will actually experience with the IER. Nevertheless, the recent updates by the USCIS are promising and might make the IER worth trying in more scenarios. Here at Clerky, we're excited for the prospect of the IER living up to its potential and are excited to help startups who want to try it out.

Good luck!

23
July
2024