Invite-only chat app Clubhouse booms in Japan
01/02/2021 05:04
By Sam Nussey
TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Private social audio app Clubhouse
is growing rapidly in Japan and now ranks first among free apps
on Apple's App Store in a test of its international viability
following its latest funding round.
The San Francisco-based app, which users must be invited to
join, reached a valuation of $1 billion in the round announced
January 24, a source familiar with the matter said confirming
media reports.
Clubhouse built a following among venture capitalists and
startup founders gossiping in its audio-only chatrooms following
its launch last March as the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the
world.
In Japan, it hit a tipping point over the last week with a
swelling user base of investors, tech industry workers and
media.
Opportunities for spontaneous social interaction have been
limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Clubhouse providing
an alternative forum to Twitter, one of the most successful
social networks in Japan.
"The power of social media is erupting in every direction,"
Shintaro Yamada, CEO of flea market app Mercari 4385.T wrote
in a Twitter post in reference to recent trends including
Clubhouse.
Fashion billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is among public figures
shifting activity to the app to talk about the money giveaways
that helped make him Japan's most followed Twitter account with
more than 10 million followers. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29J2J5
Clubhouse, which is backed by venture capital firm
Andreessen Horowitz, is attracting celebrities including Atsushi
Tamura, a tech-savvy comedian who invested in recently listed
startup Base Inc 4477.T .
Japan's entertainment industry is fragmenting as alternative
platforms like YouTube weaken the grip that talent agencies and
broadcasters held over the lives of performers.
It remains to be seen whether Clubhouse will bed in as
expansion erodes the sense of exclusivity felt by its members
and social options expand as the pandemic-hit economy reopens.
The growth of Clubhouse has led to handwringing on the app
over why the country's tech sector has not been able to produce
its own equivalent.
Japan has been slow to ride a global boom in audio content,
with players like Asahi newspaper belatedly launching their own
podcasts.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
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