Clubhouse Rolls Out Payments, Mulls Funding At $4 Billion Valuation

Audio-centric social network Clubhouse is looking at a possible fundraising round at a valuation of around $4 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.

That pricing would see the social network’s valuation quadrupled from January, showing the sky-high expectations investors have for the app. The app allows users to host their own online radio shows, in which listeners can log in to listen or to ask to participate in live chats, Bloomberg reported.

Clubhouse, which is barely a year old, has attracted appearances from huge names in business and Hollywood, according to Bloomberg. Numerous copycats and participants in social networks around the world have attempted to crop up.

Terms of the round could change, and Clubhouse’s exact goals for the round are still unknown, Bloomberg reported.

The startup behind Clubhouse, Alpha Exploration Co., was started by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth. Andreessen Horowitz has been a major backer. The company was valued at $100 million in January, but then the actual investment ended up being 10 times that valuation, according to Bloomberg.

Corporations have been hard at work on their own adaptations of the concept. Twitter has one called Spaces, Facebook is currently looking into doing one, and LinkedIn and Slack Technologies have also been said to be working on their own, Bloomberg reported.

Clubhouse also debuted a payments feature in which creators can access monetization, PYMNTS reported. As of Monday (April 5) creators can send and receive payments.

According to the company, the goal from the onset was to “put the creator first,” and the company hopes to do so via helping them “build community, audience and impact.”

One way to do that, according to the company, is to help them make money and succeed as the platform continues to grow.

Clubhouse, which advertises itself as a “space for casual, drop-in audio conversations,” has hosted luminaries like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg on its platform.