Clue’s growth journey: Our CEO joins TechUK to talk scaling with purpose

As part of techUK’s Meet the Scalers series, our CEO and co-founder Clare Elford shares the story behind Clue’s growth, from its origins in policing to its expansion across new markets.

Clue was first founded in the late 1980s as one of the earliest systems to computerise investigations, becoming widely used by specialist policing teams. Its next phase began in 2015, when Clare joined the business and led a complete rebuild of the platform, creating the foundation for sustained growth.

Over the past decade, Clue has expanded beyond policing into a broader range of sectors facing complex intelligence and investigation challenges. After strong organic growth and clear product-market fit, the company raised Series A funding in 2021 to accelerate expansion and scale the team.

As Clare outlines, the scale and complexity of threats continues to increase, driving demand for software that enables organisations not just to manage investigations, but to take a more proactive, preventative approach. “The size of the market opportunity for Clue is enormous,” Clare says. “It’s such a big problem, the scale and complexity of the threats is just increasing rapidly.”

While the opportunity is significant, Clue remains focused on scaling efficiently and sustainably by prioritising areas with the greatest impact.

Clare also reflects on the role of techUK in Clue’s journey, from early insight into the criminal justice landscape to ongoing engagement with industry and partners as the business continues to grow.

techUK is the UK’s technology trade association, representing companies across the sector and helping to shape policy, connect industry, and support growth – learn more at techuk.org.