Clubhouse launches accelerator programme for content creators in India

Social media app for audio chats Clubhouse announced the launch of its Clubhouse Creator First accelerator programme in India on Wednesday. The invite-only app which launched its Android version in May said in an announcement on its blog that the programme will support creators with production and promotion of shows as well as a monthly stipend and brand deals. 

San Francisco Clubhouse had launched its accelerator programme in March in the US, Indonesia, UK, Argentina, Canada, Colombia and Japan, selecting 53 finalists across the geographies.  

“In India, over the last few weeks, we’ve seen rooms on cricket, on music (including really fun Antakshari rooms!), rooms on gaming and contests, rooms on religion and prayer, and so much more. We are so excited to see what creators from across India will bring to the table,” said Aarthi Ramamurthy, head of international at Clubhouse, in the blog post.

Creators can send in their applications by July 16, said the post.

Clubhouse currently has “millions of users” in India, said cofounder Rohan Seth during the announcement on the platform on Wednesday.

Clubhouse has also announced rolling out direct payments to creators on its platform since April, transferring the entire payout. This provides a clear monetisation channel for content creators. The announcement comes at a time when multiple short video and audio platforms are trying to hook the best content creators in India, especially after Chinese origin short video app, TikTok was banned by the government in June 2020.

While India has seen multiple TikTok contenders trying to fill the gap by scouting for talent and paying them a portion of their revenue for better retention, Clubhouse has seen global and Indian apps rushing in to launch products in the audio segment.

Recently, local language social media app ShareChat backed by Tiger Global announced its plans to monetise its audio based Chatroom feature. Homegrown short video app Chingari also announced the launch of its audio-only app Fireside in May.

Global companies have also caught on to the trend, with Twitter launching Twitter Spaces, Facebook launching its Live Audio Rooms feature and Reddit launching Reddit Talk. On Thursday, audio streaming platform Spotify announced the launch of Greenroom, a Clubhouse competitor which allows users to host live shows and discussions.