# Clara Gold

> Source: https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/people/clara-gold | Publisher: Dating Industry Insights (High Intent Media Inc) | Last checked: 2026-10-23


**In short:** Clara Gold is the French founder and CEO of Gigi, an AI startup that began as an AI-powered dating app and now runs as a professional networking product. Gigi is listed in San Francisco and is backed by Sequoia Capital and Khosla Ventures. Gold matters to the dating industry because she publicly said the dating model's retention problem drove her pivot.

## Key facts

- Role: Founder and CEO
- Organisation: Gigi
- Based in: United States
- Website: gigi.co
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn profile
- Role: Founder and CEO of Gigi [source](https://sequoiacap.com/founder/clara-gold)
- Nationality or origin: French entrepreneur (2025) [source](https://lngfrm.net/ai-app-gigi-challenges-linkedin-for-professional-connections/)
- Business pivot: Shut down the AI dating app and relaunched Gigi as an AI-powered professional network using calendar data (2025-09-24) [source](https://onlinepersonalswatch.com/2025/09/24/gigi-pivots-from-ai-dating-app-to-linkedin-rival/)
- Funding: Gigi raised 3 million dollars led by Khosla Ventures, bringing total funding to 8 million dollars; investors include Sequoia, OpenAI and Monashees (2025-09-24) [source](https://onlinepersonalswatch.com/2025/09/24/gigi-pivots-from-ai-dating-app-to-linkedin-rival/)
- Earlier dating product: Posted that the team spent two years building an AI-powered dating app, with a beta limited to 1,000 users in Paris and New York (2025-02) [source](https://x.com/Clara_Gold/status/1894762066222694842)
- Company location: Gigi is listed as headquartered in San Francisco, California; legal name Time 3.0 Inc. [source](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ava-291d)
- Quoted view on dating economics: DII reported she told TechCrunch that successful matches lead users to delete the app [source](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/ai-dating-app-gigi-pivots-linkedin)

## Biography

Clara Gold is a French entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Gigi. Sequoia Capital lists her as the founder and CEO of Gigi and shows the partnership as starting in 2023. Business Insider, as relayed by secondary outlets, describes her as a founder who built two earlier AI projects, a chatbot called Ava and a dating app that became the base for Gigi. Her LinkedIn profile says she built Gigi from Paris for about two and a half years before moving to San Francisco. In February 2025 she posted on X that the team had spent two years building an AI-powered dating app and was moving to an AI agent, with a beta limited to 1,000 users in Paris and New York. In September 2025 Gigi launched an invite-only beta across the US and Europe as a professional network. Reports say it uses calendar data to map real relationships and prompt warm introductions. Reports also say Khosla Ventures led a further 3 million dollars, bringing total funding to 8 million dollars, with Sequoia Capital, OpenAI and Monashees among the backers. For the dating industry, her account of the move is the main point of interest. Dating Industry Insights reported that she told TechCrunch that if the product works, people find someone and delete the app. Gold has said she hopes someone will eventually solve online dating, but her own company has left the sector. Funding totals and founding dates vary between sources, so the figures here come from the reports named in the facts.


## Stories about Clara Gold

- [Gigi's Pivot to Networking: A Signal AI Can't Fix Dating's Economics](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/ai-dating-app-gigi-pivots-linkedin) (2025-09-26)

## Questions



**Who is Clara Gold?** She is the French founder and CEO of Gigi, an AI startup that began as a dating app and became a professional networking product.

**Why did Gigi leave dating?** Dating Industry Insights reported that Gold told TechCrunch that if the product works, people find someone and delete the app.

**Who has backed Gigi?** Reports name Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, OpenAI and Monashees, with total funding reported at 8 million dollars.

**What is Clara Gold's current role?** Clara Gold is Founder and CEO at Gigi.


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Canonical: https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/people/clara-gold