Clubhouse reportedly valued at $4bn with latest funding

19 Apr 2021

Image: © Yulia Panova/Stock.adobe.com

Having exploded in popularity in recent months, the audio app will use the funding to scale its team and invest in new features.

Audio-chat app Clubhouse closed a new Series C round of financing, but has not disclosed the amount raised.

The funding round was led by Andrew Chen at Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from DST Global, Tiger Global and Elad Gil.

While financial details were kept under wraps, Reuters reports that the new funding would value the company at $4bn, as per sources familiar with the matter. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that the audio app company was raising more funds from investors at a $4bn valuation.

Clubhouse is an invite-only app that allows users to set up live audio chats, almost like digital panel discussions.

It was launched in early 2020 by founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth and has been thrust into the spotlight in recent months with its rising popularity.

Unsurprisingly, the social media newbie is facing plenty of competition from established tech behemoths including Twitter, Slack and Facebook. The latter is said to be announcing a new audio feature later today (19 April).

In a blog post, Clubhouse said its latest funding will allow the company to heavily scale its team, invest in localisation and accessibility features and launch more programmes like its Creator First accelerator, which it said would help creators on its platform get paid.

The audio app announced payments features earlier this month, allowing users to make money from the app without Clubhouse taking a cut.

“Our investor base now spans nearly 200 creators, angels and funds – including members of the Clubhouse community, institutional investors, professional musicians, athletes and comedians, and many who you might not have heard of outside of Clubhouse,” the company said.

“Fundraising is only important because it allows us to keep focusing on the product and the community, and we’re so excited to continue to build Clubhouse with you. We are hiring across all areas, so if you are excited about our mission, we’d love to hear from you.”

Jenny Darmody is the editor of Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com