Clubhouse raises Series B led by a16z, says it has 180+ investors, and will test options for paying creators and begin work on an Android app soon
When I first met Paul Davison, it took about 10 seconds to realize … Tae Kim / Bloomberg : Forget TikTok. Clubhouse Is Social Media's Next Star. Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch : Clubhouse announces plans for creator payments and raises new funding led by Andreessen Horowitz Lucinda Shen / Fortune : Clubhouse reaches a $1 billion after taking off some nine months ago Vikas SN / The Economic Times : Clubhouse gets Series B funding at a reported $1 billion valuation David Pierce / Protocol : Clubhouse is growing. Now what? — Good morning! This Monday: Clubhouse is growing and changing … Pranob Mehrotra / XDA Developers : Clubhouse says it's making an Android app Nadeem Sarwar / Pocketnow : Clubhouse is making an Android app bolstered by a fresh round of funding Duncan Riley / SiliconANGLE : Upcoming audio-based social app Clubhouse raises funding from Andreessen Horowitz Tweets: Andrew Chen / @andrewchen : 👇 Some news: I've led a16z's new investment in Clubhouse and have joined the board. Essay below that covers: - how I know founders @pdavison @rohanseth - why we're excited to invest - how we think Clubhouse is unique - particularly for creators! https://a16z.com/... @suhail : Believe it or not but I bet you could still take on Clubhouse & win. Early innings. @jasonlk : I totally think Clubhouse is worth $1B. The engagement is off the charts, and the comps are worth $40B-$750B. It's just as a SaaS guy, I still struggle a bit with the exact valuations at $0 in MRR. Clubhouse / @joinclubhouse : Clubhouse is moving quickly today, but in some ways it feels like our journey started a long time ago. We wanted to take a moment to share our story and tell you a bit more about what's next. https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... Tara Lachapelle / @taralach : Clubhouse's weekly active user base *doubled over the last couple of weeks* to 2M. @firstadopter sees it growing into the tens of millions. Here are his observations after months of using and enjoying the service: https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @bopinion Noah Kulwin / @nkulw : So help me god if bored venture capitalists and columnists make Clubhouse into a thing that we are meant to care about https://www.bloomberg.com/... Li Jin / @ljin18 : Congrats to the @joinClubhouse team on pioneering a new format around interactive audio and making this prediction from 2019 come true! “Social audio....finally” 🎉 https://a16z.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Ken Yeung / @thekenyeung : Congratulations to @joinClubhouse on the new funds from a16z and others, plus the 2 million weekly active users. Company confirms scoop from @theinformation. And also acknowledges it's working on a creator program, as cited by @nytimes. https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... Peter Yang / @petergyang : Overheard at FB/Instagram HQ: “We need to drop everything and build Clubhouse live audio now!” “But we're still not finished building TikTok Reels and Zoom Rooms?!” Ok bad joke but probably true? @sal19 : We just raised a ton of money 😌 Also Clubhouse 15 times a day: Would you mind teaching this person you met once at a conference four years ago how to use our app for free? Thx sweatie Moe / @mochievous : First heard of Rohan through a viral thread about his daughter & efforts around her health. Inspiring Everything in the works sounds exciting & this caught my attention: “allow creators to get paid directly—through .. tipping, tickets or subscriptions” https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... Robert Stephens / @rstephens : If Clubhouse can perfect the moderating tools to reduce people interrupting or droning on too long this will be a $100B company. https://twitter.com/... Nicolas-Tyrell Scott / @iamntyrell : Get ready for the live podcast airings and platform building. https://twitter.com/... @alexisohanian : We're seeing a new paradigm for social emerge : audio has arrived! https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... @a16z : 👇 Announcement: a16z + Clubhouse We're excited to be working with @joinClubhouse, an audio-first social app. @andrewchen is leading the investment and has joined the board! The full write-up: https://a16z.com/... Andrew Chen / @andrewchen : Official statement by @a16z on Clubhouse. https://twitter.com/... @iaboyeji : Congratulations to Clubhouse. I always believed you guys would be a great, world changing business. I'm sad I didn't really get an opportunity to invest but I'll direct that energy to funding creators on the clubhouse platform. More on that in the future https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... Judy Savitskaya / @heyjudka : So glad @a16z is partnered with @joinClubhouse! I have been very pleasantly surprised by what a great platform clubhouse can be for talking about science. Have already learned from a few really interesting scientists like @EganPeltan, @bwhite5290, for example. https://twitter.com/... Russ / @russdiemon : “To the famous people who made us cool and credible, we will not give you a percentage in what you helped build but we will allow you to try to make money within our app in turn making our app (that you made cool) more valuable” this the “here!! now leave me alone” money lmao https://twitter.com/... Asia Chloe Brown / @asiachloebrown : I like the idea of tipping & tickets. https://twitter.com/... Josh / @joshuaogundu : A backstory on how Clubhouse came to be, this is a post folks should archive https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... M. Holston-Alexander / @meghalexander : It has been such a JOY hustling for @pdavison @rohanseth & the team on the @clfcapital side. We're so proud of what this team has created not only for our network & community, but communities across the globe! Honored to be on this journey with @joinclubhouse, @andrewchen @a16z! https://twitter.com/... David George / @davidgeorge83 : I love Clubhouse - an amazing place to learn and a replacement for a bunch of IRL social events. AC says it best - “It soon became obvious to me, as my time in the app reached more than a dozen hours a week, that Clubhouse is something special.” Go @pdavison and @rohanseth! https://twitter.com/... Johannes Reck / @johannesreck : I have known @pdavison since the early Highlight days (still have a T-shirt). Super happy seeing the massive success of @joinClubhouse - at least on my Twitter feed 😁 Well deserved 🙏 https://twitter.com/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Instagram just finished changing all the tabs around and now they need to find room for a Clubhouse clone. @hunterwalk : some good threads asking why Clubhouse is investing in creator monetization ahead of doubling down on Trust & Safety. Here's my own POV on why their biz model is actually T&S positive. Caveat - while i know some of the people involved, i'm not an investor in the co, etc https://twitter.com/... Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : Key sign that the Clubhouse team has a great understanding of current dynamics of social apps are their top priorities on getting funding include • creator monetization • scaling trust, safety & support • improving ranking & recommendations Good team. https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... JD Ross / @justindross : Clubhouse's whole team is getting appropriate accolades for breaking ground with a new social medium, and I want to give a special props to cofounder @rohanseth for everything he's overcome these last few years to get to this moment https://joinclubhouse.com/... Todd Goldberg / @toddg777 : That was fast...Congrats to Clubhouse for raising their Series B from a16z! It's been exciting to watch them iterate from Talkshow to the hottest consumer social app in years. https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Austin Green / @austingreen : I'm not exaggerating when I say that clubhouse changed the trajectory of my life. Extremely grateful for what @pdavison and @rohanseth have built https://twitter.com/... @navjosh : Oh wow. In the announcement for new round of funding, @joinClubhouse says it's working on a system to get creators paid. Subscriptions, tipping etc. https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Kyle Tibbitts / @kyletibbitts : Congratulations @pdavison, @rohanseth and the small but mighty @joinClubhouse team for building an audio experience that's brought millions together and sparked conversations you'd never hear anywhere else. Grateful to be a small part of the journey. 🙏 https://joinclubhouse.com/... Josh Constine / @joshconstine : Why Clubhouse is special & deserves its $1B valuation: It's a new social graph, the talk graph, where you follow different people than on Twitter or Insta. It's a more personal, unscripted way to get to know public figures and peers you care about. Off-camera = intimacy. 1/ Josh Constine / @joshconstine : Clubhouse is just genuinely fun. I've made friends there. How many apps can you say that about? (Ask if you need an invite!) So congrats to @pdavison @rohanseth & team. Not for the valuation, but for making us feel less isolated. https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... Casey Newton / @caseynewton : Highly unusual — in the best possible way — for a social app to talk about trust and safety investments *and* creator monetization in a Series B fundraising post. It's all easier said than done, but glad Clubhouse is taking both more seriously over time. https://joinclubhouse.com/... @charts4bitcoin : “.rooms filled with people hosting game shows, recapping NBA games, singing opera, discussing philosophy, meeting other musicians, sharing travel tips, running support groups, & meditating together. They're hosting daily talk shows, performing stand-up comedy, playing guitar &..” https://twitter.com/... Steve / @stevejang : congrats @pdavison @rohanseth! they've truly captured lightning in a bottle. such a deeply social product with new learnings about social software and online discourse. it's been fun to be along for the ride as an early tester, user, and backer. 🙌🏽 https://twitter.com/... Jon Lai / @tocelot : Over the last year @joinClubhouse has taken over my homescreen - it's magical to drop into a room & discover it's a masterclass in a topic i always wanted to learn about Excited about the future of social audio and @a16z + Clubhouse! Congrats @pdavison @rohanseth @andrewchen! https://twitter.com/... Jon Shieber / @jshieber : Is having a huge cap table a good thing now? https://twitter.com/... Sameer Singh / @sameer_singh17 : Amazing trajectory. The (organic) pivot to scheduled, instead of spontaneous, engagement has helped. Still more to be done on that front, but it already feels more like an audio-only Hopin than a social app. That's a good thing for liquidity. https://twitter.com/... Sara Mauskopf / @sm : 2M WAU is 🤯 Likely more total people have used Clubhouse than have been diagnosed with Covid in the US (or soon that will be true) https://twitter.com/... Matt McGee / @mattmcgee : This is twice in the past week that Clubhouse has specifically called out the real estate industry's adoption/usage of its app. https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Clubhouse is super interesting for the future of audio conversations and podcasts. It had 2 million people using it last week, and an Android app is on the way. The race is now on for how quick Twitter Spaces can copy it (Instagram stories / Snapchat) https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Matt Navarra / @mattnavarra : Clubhouse announces new features coming soon including: - Monetisations tools for creators such as tipping, subscriptions and tickets https://joinclubhouse.com/... https://twitter.com/... Dan Primack / @danprimack : Clubhouse talks about having over 180 investors, and seems happy about it. For many startups, that would be viewed as cap table hell. @dr : Three interesting points from Clubhouse's Series B announcement: • 2 million users per week • Android app in the works • exploration into in-app payments ("tipping, tickets or subscriptions") https://joinclubhouse.com/... Sheel Mohnot / @pitdesi : the full blogpost is very good, and worth a read. “We will also be using a portion of the new funding round to roll out a Creator Grant Program to support emerging Clubhouse creators.” https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... Lia Haberman / @liahaberman : Clubhouse to creators: “we plan to launch our first tests to allow creators to get paid directly—through features like tipping, tickets or subscriptions + we will roll out a Creator Grant Program to support emerging Clubhouse creators” https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... @dcoolican : I'm excited we invested in Clubhouse. But I'm more excited that two thoughtful and amazing people are building the future of social. @pdavison @rohanseth https://twitter.com/... Anish Acharya / @illscience : Clubhouse is interesting on so many levels: 1 First large scale social product with a biz model that's aligned with users (tipping, paid events etc) 2 Structurally healthier culture bc people can share context and build empathy 3 Encourages exploration and openness vs tunnels https://twitter.com/... Kathryn Haun / @katie_haun : After just a few times on Clubhouse I see why it's taken off so quickly 🚀🔥 - very excited for @a16z to double down on our investment here and congrats to @pdavison @rohanseth and my partner @andrewchen!! https://twitter.com/... Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz : Clubhouse, along with a significant amt of SV, seems to have finally discovered the creator economy in the last 9 months. That's great, but without rolling out robust moderation tools and protections for users you aren't really serving “creators” at all. https://www.nytimes.com/... @hunterwalk : pay me $10/hr and i'll join your clubhouse room to just drop Funkmaster Flex bomb noises at critical moments @hunterwalk : has anyone built a soundboard app for Clubhouse. or rented themselves out as a foley artist for hire? @msg https://twitter.com/... Kate Clark / @kateclarktweets : Clubhouse just announced it raised a new round of funding, led by Andrew Chen at a16z, and now has 180 investors. No comment on round amount or valuation. https://joinclubhouse.com/... Martin Sfp Bryant / @martinsfp : Also of note: Clubhouse “went direct” - no prebriefed press. The news seems to have been timed to coincide with the weekly ‘town hall’ event in the app. Martin Sfp Bryant / @martinsfp : Here's Clubhouse's announcement of its new funding round. Some very Twitch-y and Substack-y things coming: “tests to allow creators to get paid directly” and “a Creator Grant Program to support emerging Clubhouse creators.” https://joinclubhouse.com/... Peter Yang / @petergyang : Clubhouse adding new features to help creators make money - tipping, tickets, subs - as well as introducing a Creator Grant Program. There will be a gold rush of creators to this new platform. https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Chris Strub / @chrisstrub : Look: good on the @joinClubhouse team, & I wish them great success. But I'm not nearly as bullish on Clubhouse as others, including @Mike_Stelzner. The social media oligarchy is molded in stone (w/Snapchat clinging by a fingertip) Blab, Peach, fun while they last. https://twitter.com/... Ryan Hoover / @rrhoover : Paul and co just announced their Series B led by a16z: https://joinclubhouse.com/... I've said this before: Clubhouse is the most interesting social product to emerge in the last several years. They've created a new category, eating into Twitter, forums, podcasts, and talk radio. 🤯 Sascha Segan / @saschasegan : something something flying cars cliche Love to see how VC money goes to duplicative, iPhone-only social media apps which continue to ignore the key problem of moderation and toxicity https://twitter.com/... Scott Kupor / @skupor : “Clubhouse could not have come at a better time for social media. It reinvents the category in all the right ways, from the content consumption experience to the way people engage each other, while giving power to its creators.” https://twitter.com/... Vijay Pande / @vijaypande : So excited about the future of social in @joinClubhouse . See you there Monday and Tuesday this week. Congrats @andrewchen ! https://twitter.com/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Answer: about 12 hours. 😂https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : Andrew did Substack, now Clubhouse. This man has a thesis. https://twitter.com/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Substack disrupts Medium, Clubhouse disrupts podcasts? Some early Twitter energy in this too. https://twitter.com/... Martin Sfp Bryant / @martinsfp : a16z's Clubhouse investment is officially announced 👇 https://twitter.com/... Alex Heath / @alexeheath : In a weekly town hall for users, Clubhouse's cofounders confirm they have raised a new round from a16z ⁃ will make a creator grant program ⁃ 180 total investors in the co. ⁃ 2 million weekly active users ⁃ $ will be used to hire more people, build infra https://twitter.com/... @ruima : To me Clubhouse mostly proves the value of UGC / PUGC livestreaming. It's just that audio is so low barrier for both creator and consumer. Curious to see how it develops, esp as I've been watching video livestreaming develop for last decade in China tech. https://www.theinformation.com/ ... Bastian Lehmann / @basti : A Clubhouse valuation of $1B is a no brainer. @pdavison (I don't know him) created a new way for audio to be part of the (no pun intended) conversation. I root for him. 📻 Sam White / @samwhiteout : Clubhouse has done very little re: safety policies and products. Folks told me months ago “it's still early” but things are ramping up. And there's been no real progress re: safety on the platform. https://twitter.com/... Moe / @mochievous : Two things I think makes Clubhouse sticky 1. It is a social media app that doesn't compete for screen time (you can do other things in the background) 2. Creating content on it is really easy Clubhouse Gets Investment Interest at $1 Billion Valuation https://www.theinformation.com/ ... @immad : One thing people don't get about VC investments is the asymmetric risk VCs take due to preference share: Upside: Clubhouse worth $100b Downside protection: They sell for enough to pay the VCs back first This means VC valuation for breakout successes seem crazy. https://twitter.com/... Ben Parr / @benparr : If you believe @joinClubhouse has staying power (and at this point it seems clear it does), then $1b is a low valuation. Sticky social networks are very rare and extremely monetizable. https://www.theinformation.com/ ... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : Now, all of Clubhouse will obsessively discuss its funding round, leading to an engagement boom that will increase its valuation. It's a good business. https://twitter.com/... Disaster Georgist / @dolarvaluetwink : Wow for a monopoly there sure are lots of competitors in the social media market https://twitter.com/... @anshublog : Is Clubhouse the new social network monopoly? Or is Facebook still the only monopoly? And Twitter? And TikTok? https://twitter.com/... Robert Stephens / @rstephens : As far I can tell so far, there is only one thing easier than making a quick TikTok vid, and that's spinning up an audio room in CH. https://twitter.com/... Tom Dotan / @cityofthetown : 24hrs after I participate in my first Clubhouse talk 🤔 https://twitter.com/... Austen Allred / @austen : $100M was a reasonable price for the Clubhouse round. $1B would be a low price for Clubhouse today IMO. A team of <10 people grew an easily monetizeable invite-only social app from 1 million to 2 million users in less than two weeks. Do you know how often that happens? Never. https://twitter.com/... Alex Heath / @alexeheath : Clubhouse is in talks to raise more money at a valuation of $1 billion, up 10x from its valuation just 8 months ago. The audio social app now has just over 2 million users but is still invite-only. story with @zoeSaintBernard & @KateClarkTweets: https://thein.fo/... @julianweisser : “The steeper the up round, the greater the undervaluation.” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Benjamin Fernandes / @benji_fernandes : I've been saying Clubhouse will be bigger than TikTok! Voice travels in motion and doesn't compete for screen time. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
Clubhouse's funding follows reports that investors were pursuing a round at a roughly $1 billion valuation, after the app emerged alongside the lockdown-era rise of drop-in voice and chat rooms. The round formalizes that investor interest while adding Andrew Chen to the board.
The company is pairing capital with two operating priorities: creator economics and Android development. That matters as Facebook was already reported to be building a similar audio-chat product, turning Clubhouse's early category lead into a competition for creators and reach.
First-order effects
- Clubhouse will test direct creator payments—tipping, tickets, and subscriptions—and launch its Creator Grant Program, giving hosts a path to earn on the service.
- Android development broadens Clubhouse's planned device reach, while a16z's investment adds Andrew Chen to its board and expands an already large investor base.
Second-order effects
- Creator-payment tests put pressure on competing live-audio products, including Facebook's reported entrant, to offer comparable incentives for hosts rather than compete only on audience access.
- Clubhouse's Android push makes distribution and creator monetization interdependent: a wider potential audience can make paid rooms and subscriptions more viable for the creators the company is trying to retain.
Third-order effects
- If live-audio services make direct payments a core feature, the category shifts from spontaneous social rooms toward creator-led networks where hosts, not just user growth, determine platform loyalty.
- The sequence from Clubhouse's reported $1 billion funding interest to a later Series C led by a16z indicates investor backing is concentrating behind platforms that can turn early social engagement into a durable creator business.
The trend: Live-audio platforms are evolving from novelty social spaces into creator businesses, with monetization tools, device reach, and concentrated venture backing becoming competitive levers.