Clubhouse expands its creator accelerator programme to India

Clubhouse, an invite-only social audio network, expanded its accelerator programme Creator First to India on June 16. The programme was first launched in the US in March.

Announcing the launch on Clubhouse on Wednesday evening, Aarthi Ramamurthy, Head of International, said, “The Creator First Program in India will help creators with production and creative development, promote your show, and provide financial support by matching you with brands or a monthly stipend.”

However she did not share the scale of stipends. In the programme launched in the US, creators were guaranteed payment of $5000 per month for creating content on Clubhouse.

The application is open on June 16, which will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The first window is closing at July 16, 2021.

“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,” Ramamurthy added.

India focus

Since the Android launch in May, India has seen over a million downloads as of June 2, 2021 making it the largest market for the firm. The launch of Creator First in India clearly indicates the firm’s focus on the country.

However it wasn’t the case for over a year since the launch in March 2020. Well, compared to the 3.7 million downloads in the US and 1.9 million in Japan, according to AppAnnie data, there is no way India will be in focus with a little over 90,000 installs. It was not even in the top 20 countries for Clubhouse. This was till May 9.

All that changed last week when India became the largest Android users with over 1 million downloads. The India town hall and the launch of Creator First programme are a reflection of the nation’s sudden rise in status.

However the platform is also facing stiff competition from  tech giants such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Spotify and Reddit.