Clubhouse has again reiterated its intention to release an Android app, but this time with a sense of much greater immediacy than previously. It made the comment as part of its announcement about securing Series C funding, which is reported to value the company at $4 billion. Other priorities it has outlined include international expansion, offering more support for creators, and improving the discovery content experience for users.
Clubhouse's rise to prominence has been explosive, with the app having only been launched in March last year. A fresh live audio chat format coupled with appearances on the platform from a string of high-profile names led to over 13 million downloads within a year and Series B funding in January that reportedly valued the company at $1 billion. Although the company has struggled at times to keep up with its own pace of growth and says that even since January it has grown faster than expected, this fresh round of funding makes it well placed to attack its next growth challenges — of which there are many.
Whereas in January and March Clubhouse said its Android app would be available "soon," this latest update says it has "readied Android for launch." That language suggests the Android version of the Clubhouse app is virtually ready for release. If that's the case, Android users who have been looking on longingly as those with iPhones have all the fun may not have much longer to wait.
Clubhouse's Other Future Plans
Discussing how its new funding will be spent, Clubhouse first touched on its intention to "heavily scale our team to support international growth." The app is variously reported to be available in 154 of the 175 countries in which Apple's App Store operates. However, it is currently only available in English and has no dedicated support for individual countries or even regions.
In line with this, it has also flagged its intention to invest in localization features on the platform itself, as well as accessibility features and content discovery features. These are particularly important as it tries to build a platform that is engaging and sticky. The platform's support and community health teams, which sit alongside the user experience, will also receive investment.
Finally, and crucially, Clubhouse says it intends to launch more initiatives like the Creator First accelerator program. That was specifically launched with the intention of helping creators to make the best possible content, benefitting both them and the platform itself. If Clubhouse is to live up to its lofty $4 billion valuation, ensuring a constant stream of high-quality content is crucial, and investing in creators is one strong approach for doing that.
Source: Clubhouse