Clubhouse invite-only chat app is booming in Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Clubhouse private social audio app is growing rapidly in Japan and now ranks # 1 for free apps on Apple’s App Store in a test of its international viability following its latest cycle of funding.

The San Francisco-based app, which users should be invited to join, reached a valuation of $ 1 billion in the cycle announced on Jan. 24, a source familiar with the matter said confirming media reports.

Clubhouse has made a following among venture capitalists and startup founders chatting in its audio-only chat rooms after launching last March as the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world.

In Japan, it hit a tipping point over the past week with a growing 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 exploding in all directions,” wrote Shintaro Yamada, CEO of flea market app Mercari in a Twitter post with reference to recent trends including Clubhouse.

Fashion billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is among public figures turning to the app to talk about the cash giveaways that have helped make him Japan’s most-followed Twitter account with over 10 million followers.

Clubhouse, which is backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, attracts celebrities including Atsushi Tamura, a tech-savvy comedian who has invested in recently-listed start-up Base Inc.

Japan’s entertainment industry is fragmenting as alternative platforms like YouTube weaken the hold that creative agencies and broadcasters have over artists’ lives.

It remains to be seen whether Clubhouse will take hold as the expansion erodes the sense of exclusivity felt by its members and social options expand as the pandemic-hit economy reopens.

The growth of Clubhouse led to a manual analysis of the app as to why the country’s tech sector has not been able to produce its own equivalent.

Japan has been slow to take advantage of a global boom in audio content, with players like Asahi newspaper belatedly launching their own podcasts.