Users won't need invites to join platform anymore; added 10M users since mid-May: Clubhouse

Clubhouse, an invite-only social audio app, on Wednesday said it was opening its platform to everyone and new users will now be able to join the service without an invite.

The number of daily rooms on the platform have grown to half a million, and the company has added 10 million users since mid-May, it said in a blogpost.

Clubhouse was launched in April last year for iOS (Apple) users and the Android version was unveiled in May this year. Within weeks of the Android launch globally, the platform had crossed the two million users-mark.

"Twelve never-boring months later, we're thrilled to share that Clubhouse is now out of beta, open to everyone, and ready to begin its next chapter. This means we have removed our waitlist system so that anyone can join," it added.

The company explained that by adding people in waves using the invite system, it was able to grow the platform in a measured way, and keep things from breaking as it scaled.

"But we've always wanted Clubhouse to be open. Everyone in the world should have access to meaningful conversations. And the best rooms on Clubhouse are the ones where you meet people from far outside your social circle, with very different views and lived experiences, who change your perspective on the world," it said.

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Clubhouse was launched in India in May this year, and within weeks, the country featured among its top markets.

The company said its team has gone from 8 people to 58, and the number of daily rooms has grown from 50,000 to half a million.

"We've added 10 million people to the community since we launched Android in mid-May, and seen 90 million DMs sent since we launched Backchannel last week. The average listener now spends over an hour a day on Clubhouse, and a huge percentage of people don't just listen, but actually talk," it said.

Last week, Clubhouse had rolled out a new chat feature called 'Backchannel' that allows users to send text messages to other people.

"We know there will be many more ups and downs as we scale, and competition from the large networks will be fierce. But we believe the future is created by optimists -- and we're excited to keep working to build a different kind of social network," the blog said.

It added that the company will be growing its team "quite a bit" and will ship big new updates for users every one to two weeks.

Recently, Clubhouse had announced the expansion of its 'Clubhouse Creator First' programme to India as part of its efforts to provide creators on the platform with tools and resources to help take their ideas and creativity to a larger audience.

The programme had been launched in the US in March.