Clubhouse, the invite-only audio-based social networking app, skyrocketed in popularity after a majority of netizens discovered the platform amid a pandemic. Since then, many gone to dub the app as the ‘future of social media’ while it continues growing in leaps and bound.
Now, according to the latest media reports, Clubhouse has raised a fresh round of capital led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz which values the budding social media company at a whopping $4 billion.
On Friday, sources in the know revealed that Clubhouse’s latest fundraising round includes investments from players such as Tiger Global Management and DST Global. Both of them are newcomers to the audio-only social media platform.
Note here that while the details of the amount invested are not yet available, the people aware of the developments have reported that it is highly likely to be more than $100 million that Clubhouse raised in their previous round.
Three months before this, the audio-only social media app was valued at $1 billion. Clubhouse launched for Apple users in the thick of the global pandemic in March 2020. Since then, it has garnered more than 12.7 million downloads within the short span of a year.
In the first week of April, Clubhouse partnered up with Stripe to let users send money to the profiles of their favourite creators, a move that perhaps signals that the company is planning to bring in more revenue.
Clubhouse’s success has not gone unnoticed by bigwigs of the social media space Facebook and Twitter. Both launched their own Clubhouse clones, Hotline and Spaces, respectively. Interestingly, last month, Twitter has reportedly held discussions with Clubhouse about a potential $4 billion buyout. But, it is yet to be known if the deal will fructify.
Lastly, given Clubhouse is a new player in the social media space, their platform calls for greater content moderation. Also, last week, it was reported that the personal data of a whopping 1.3 million Clubhouse users was scraped and posted online. And soon after, a French government watchdog went on to open an investigation into the company post, receiving a complaint about data privacy.
All in all, with the fresh round out funding, it is well understood that Clubhouse is equipped to further expand its consumer base aggressively. This is not the first time Andreessen Horowitz has invested in Clubhouse. Last year, it won the VC sweepstakes to back the app, which was still in beta back then.
Barely two months after the founding, in May 2020, Clubhouse raised a Series A funding round from Andreessen Horowitz in a deal that included $10 million in primary capital and $2 million in secondary shares.
It now remains to be seen audio is indeed the future of social media and if Clubhouse can dominate the space before its clones crowd the space. We will keep you updated. Until then, stay tuned.
