# Nicholas Hinrichsen

> Nicholas "Nicky" Hinrichsen is the German-born, San Francisco-based CEO and co-founder of Clutch, a software company that helps credit unions digitize loan and deposit origination. After studying finance and computer science across Germany, Chile and Australia, he earned an MBA at Stanford, co-founded used-car marketplace Carlypso with Christopher Coleman, sold it to Carvana in 2017, and spent three years building Carvana's consumer car-buying operation before the pair started Clutch in 2020.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Clutch
- **Organizations:** Clutch, Carlypso, Carvana, Y Combinator, Suncoast Credit Union
- **Education:** Studies in corporate finance and computer science, EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Coursework in finance and computer science, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Coursework in finance and computer science, University of Sydney, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Played on Germany's national golf team for four or five years., Took Carlypso through Y Combinator and raised about $10 million in venture funding., Sold Carlypso to Carvana in 2017 and brought the team into the acquirer.

## Career timeline

- **2008-2010** — Worked in project finance and controlling at renewable-energy investor ecolutions, including transactions involving China and India.
- **2011** — Moved from Germany to the United States for the Stanford MBA program and met future co-founder Christopher Coleman.
- **2013** — Co-founded used-car marketplace Carlypso after he and Coleman began helping Stanford classmates sell their cars.
- **2014** — Carlypso joined Y Combinator and evolved from peer-to-peer sales toward institutional wholesale inventory.
- **2017** — Carvana acquired Carlypso; Hinrichsen joined Carvana in a product leadership role.
- **2019-2020** — Served as Senior Director of Sell to Carvana, the business that buys vehicles from consumers.
- **2020** — Left Carvana and co-founded Clutch with Coleman, initially focused on digital auto-loan refinancing.
- **2025** — Clutch raised a $65 million Series B led by Alkeon Capital Management after reaching more than 135 credit-union clients.
- **2026** — Clutch launched its Lending Automation System and reported serving more than 175 credit unions and 30 million members through AI on its platform.

## Achievements

- Played on Germany's national golf team for four or five years.
- Took Carlypso through Y Combinator and raised about $10 million in venture funding.
- Sold Carlypso to Carvana in 2017 and brought the team into the acquirer.
- Helped scale the Sell to Carvana consumer vehicle-acquisition operation.
- Built Clutch into a digital origination provider serving more than 135 credit unions by January 2025.
- Raised a $65 million Series B for Clutch in January 2025.
- By August 2026, Clutch reported that its AI platform served 30 million members across more than 175 credit unions.
- Serves on the advisory board of Suncoast Credit Union.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Clutch reported that 30 million members across more than 175 credit unions were served by AI on its platform; Hinrichsen said he had joined 31 credit-union board meetings during 2026 to discuss AI governance and strategy.
- **2026-07** — Clutch launched its Lending Automation System, combining digital applications, automated decisioning and staff fulfillment workflows.
- **2025-10** — Clutch announced a $1 million reinvestment commitment for 2026 to support the credit-union movement, local communities and member-first innovation.
- **2025-09** — Hinrichsen joined a Clutch and TruStage discussion on AI agents, open banking and the future of loan and deposit applications.
- **2025-01** — Clutch announced a $65 million Series B led by Alkeon Capital Management, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, TruStage Ventures and Peterson Partners.
- **2024-06** — Hinrichsen discussed AI's impact on the credit-union industry at the Michigan Credit Union League Convention.

## Links

- Website: https://withclutch.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-hinrichsen
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgbnE4HlhRw
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/withclutch

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nicholas-hinrichsen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18