Source: Clubhouse's latest round values the startup at $4B

Audio-chat app Clubhouse closed a new Series C round of financing, the company said during its weekly town hall on Sunday, without disclosing the amount raised. — A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters …

Reuters 2021-04-19 Elizabeth Culliford

Context & Ripple Effects

Clubhouse's financing story has accelerated from a $100 million Series A valuation in 2020 to a reported $1 billion post-money round in January. The reported Series C arrives after the company was said to be seeking capital at the same $4 billion level.

The funding route also follows failed acquisition discussions with Twitter, making the investor round the concrete outcome of a period in which Clubhouse had both financing and sale options in play.

First-order effects

Clubhouse secures a Series C financing path at the reported $4 billion valuation, with Andreessen Horowitz leading and DST Global, Tiger Global, and Elad Gil participating.
The round gives Clubhouse an independently financed alternative after the reported Twitter talks did not produce a deal.

Second-order effects

Andreessen Horowitz deepens its role in Clubhouse after leading its earlier reported rounds, while the Series C adds DST Global, Tiger Global, and Elad Gil to the company’s investor group.
A $4 billion financing benchmark formalizes the valuation Clubhouse was reportedly seeking, rather than leaving that price anchored only to the abandoned Twitter discussions.

Third-order effects

For Clubhouse, the sequence shows late-stage private financing serving as an alternative to a strategic sale when a prospective buyer and the startup do not reach terms.
If similar financing outcomes recur, negotiations over emerging social platforms may increasingly use investor-backed valuation rounds to establish a market price alongside acquisition interest.

The trend: Clubhouse is one example of private growth capital becoming a parallel path to strategic acquisition for high-profile social startups.

Discussion

@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Friday night scoop: A16z is leading Clubhouse's next round of funding at a $4 billion valuation with new investors DST Global and Tiger Global Management. https://thein.fo/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
I can't understand why anyone would invest in Clubhouse now that it's competing with Twitter's legendary machine for shipping and executing product.
@reuterstech @reuterstech on x
Clubhouse closes new round of funding that would value app at $4 billion -source https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
@mikebutcher I also think the bubble at the top is the wrong interface. It's the same thing as this useless fleet thing - there is no deep thinking behind it
@ryanhoulihan @ryanhoulihan on x
Clubhouse is not an innovation worth billions of dollars and it certainly doesn't need that kind of investment to pursue its idea. It's a fucking party line. It's a Zoom call. It's libertarian Skype. https://twitter.com/...
@mikebutcher Mike Butcher on x
It's very unusual for a startup to announce such a late funding round (Series C!) without disclosing the amount. https://www.reuters.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Like its last funding rounds, Clubhouse is choosing not to disclose how large this round is or its valuation, though I'm told it's $4 billion
@levynews Ari Levy on x
They wanted to make sure the a16z newsroom published the objective take https://twitter.com/...
@mikebutcher Mike Butcher on x
@benedictevans The only problem is, is that Twitter Spaces doesn't work as advertised. It frequently breaks in my experience. You can't schedule rooms. If the moderator's app crashes the whole room crashes. It's definitely still a “beta”.
@andrewchen @andrewchen on x
some news: a16z leads the Series C for Clubhouse 😎 Also excited to be working with @eladgil, DST, Tiger, many 100s of creators/individuals on the next leg of our adventure! The focus will be on creators, scaling, and monetization. Blog post from Clubhouse team coming soon!
@tanayj Tanay Jaipuria on x
Extremely rare for a venture firm to lead three consecutive rounds as a16z has done in Clubhouse (Series A at $100M, B at $1B, C at $4B) The only other example I could think of was Medallia (Sequoia). Reminds me of this quote https://twitter.com/...
@joinclubhouse Clubhouse on x
Today's Townhall Highlights 📢 It's important for us to let you all know first as we build this community together. We just closed a new round of financing—led by @AndrewChen at @a16z, w/ support from DST Global, Tiger Global, & Elad Gil 🙏 #CHTownhall https://www.joinclubhouse.com…
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Clubhouse confirms new funding round, albeit without many specifics. https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ...
@shonaghosh Shona Ghosh on x
🧐 “The round triples Clubhouse's valuation from January, in a deal Andreessen Horowitz also led” https://twitter.com/...
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
Clubhouse says it's closed its Series C round.
@kieranmch Kieran McHugh on x
I can't help but think this is a massive mistake. Clubhouse is going to go the same way Houseparty did eventually. https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Clubhouse now has more than 200 investors. Just imagine what Twitter would be like on the day of their IPO 😩 https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ...
@sohear Steve O'Hear on x
I stopped doing Clubhouse events and its valuation tripled. Don't @ me 🤓 https://twitter.com/...
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
Clubhouse has closed a new round of Series C, said @joinClubhouse's @pdavison during today's Townhall
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
As I reported Friday, Clubhouse CEO confirms this morning in a town hall in the app that they've raised a Series C round of funding led by a16z with participation from DST and Tiger Global. @eladgil also invested in the round. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@rotiandrye Nikitha Rai on x
I didn't see this until now. Apparently they're flush with cash and certainly capable of throwing money at the problem and fixing it. Hey @joinClubhouse, you're raising money off this app's community but you won't protect its most vulnerable members? That's bad business. https://…
@firstadopter Tae Kim on x
Athletes and comedians are now prestige investors “Our investor base now spans nearly 200 creators, angels, and funds — including members of the Clubhouse community, institutional investors, professional musicians, athletes and comedians” https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ...
@joinclubhouse Clubhouse on x
Here's what we'll be able to do w/ this new capital: 🌍 Support international growth 🦾 Invest in localization & accessibility features 🚀Launch more programs for Creators to get paid 🔎 Invest deeply in discovery ⚡️Scale our support & community health teams #CHTownhall
@moxxieventures @moxxieventures on x
🚀 We are thrilled to see our friends and portfolio company @joinClubhouse continue to grow and build community around the world! Congratulations @pdavison and @rohanseth on this remarkable milestone! 💙 https://twitter.com/...
@andrewchen Andrew Chen on x
👇🏼fyi here's the official thread on the clubhouse series c https://twitter.com/...
@eladgil Elad Gil on x
Congrats to @joinClubhouse @pdavison @rohanseth on new funding and global community expansion 🚀🌏🔥 https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... Lots of open jobs/roles at Clubhouse here: https://jobs.lever.co/...
@pacificleo Prashant Singh on x
And it's still not available on Android. Talk about TAM https://twitter.com/...
@iatalkspace Abubakar on x
Tiger Global again. A very small team doing deals around the clock. https://twitter.com/...
@yangcliu Yang on x
This cements that Discord is worth no less than $25bn!!! https://twitter.com/...
@firstadopter Tae Kim on x
Clubhouse announces they closed Series C round of funding. Quadrupled size of team this year. Growth has outpaced discovery algos. “heavily scale our team to grow intl. growth” “invest deeply in discovery to help people find best rooms” [Did not officially disclose $ numbers]
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
This Series C for Clubhouse is led by @a16z, more from @andrewchen ⬇️ https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Friday story is updated with confirmation from Clubhouse I'm having deja vu from last round in Jan, when we broke on a Friday that Clubhouse was raising at $1b. The company ignored our requests for comment, then announced it on Sunday like they did today https://www.theinformatio…
@terronk @terronk on x
Here is an example of what tech industry journalism could use more of...well if our goal as readers is to learn. This is a non-obvious insight that comes from understanding how the industry works. https://twitter.com/...
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
Clubhouse's official announcement on the new Series C round led by @a16z 📰 https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@teddyschleifer Teddy Schleifer on x
By “Friday night scoop,” Alex means this is his third funding scoop of the day. https://twitter.com/...
@druekataoka Drue Kataoka on x
Big Congratulations @joinClubhouse @pdavison @rohanseth @pmarca @bhorowitz @FeliciaHorowitz @stephssimon @mayawatson @smc90 @rbahnasy @anuatluru & team 🎉🎊! @a16z values Clubhouse at $4 Billion With DST, Tiger @ClubhouseBest https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@amir Amir Efrati on x
Tiger. Of course it's Tiger. https://twitter.com/...
@alex @alex on x
This is either genius or stupid af - which makes it a good venture bet - much more interesting than putting capital into a SaaS startup so they can bolster GTM spend https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
This is how you prevent your portfolio company from taking an acquisition offer. https://twitter.com/...

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