According to a Bloomberg report, Twitter has been in talks with Clubhouse about a possible acquisition of the live audio networking platform, with a transaction value of about $ 4 billion. TechCrunch also confirmed that the discussions took place from a source familiar with the conversations.
While the talks have taken place over the past few months, they are no longer taking place, although the reason why they ended is not known, according to the report. It is also noteworthy that Bloomberg reported just a few days ago that Clubhouse wants to raise a new round of funding at a valuation of about $ 4 billion, but the report on the possible acquisition talks indicates that the discussions with Twitter first collapsed which led to a change in strategy to raise additional capital in exchange for equity investment.
Twitter has its own product that is very similar to Clubhouse – Spaces, an audio feature for audio venues that has been gradually expanding to its user base over the past few months. Clubhouse, meanwhile, has just launched the first of its money-making efforts, Clubhouse Payments, which allows users to send direct payments to other creators on the platform, provided the person receives the payment.
Interestingly, Clubhouse’s money-making effort doesn’t actually give them any money; Instead, it earns money for recipient users who get 100% of the funds, minus a small reduction for processing that goes directly to Stripe, which the payment provider Clubhouse uses to enable virtual tips.
Although we are not familiar with the details of these conversations between Twitter and Clubhouse, it seems to the social network a very high price for the audio program, especially given its own progress with Spaces. Clubhouse’s early pull was unmistakable, but there are still many questions about longevity, and it’s also being cloned left and right by other platforms, asking the age – old startup question whether it’s a feature or a product on its own. .
Whatever went down, the timing of this revelation is likely to be the lead for Clubhouse’s conversation with potential investors during the target valuation for the round he wants to increase. Either way, it’s exciting to have this kind of activity, buzz and attention playing on a software for consumers, after many years of arguing, was a relatively slim period for the category.