Welcome to the Plug In South LA Beat, a regular curation of can’t-miss innovation and technology news for our community. Recently we heard that audio-based apps are on the rise.
During our virtual community event last week, Squad founder and CEO Isa Watson talked about Ense and Clubhouse. Watson, like many of us, is getting tired of constant video calls. She shared that she started using audio apps to switch up her personal and professional routines.
Although Clubhouse is still in beta and lacks a public website, CNBC’s Ari Levy and Salvador Rodriguez reported that the company was just valued at nearly $100 million.
“If you tuned into the Clubhouse app Monday night, you could have heard a lively discussion on how the coronavirus is affecting the prison population. Speakers included MC Hammer, political commentator Van Jones, writer and activist Shaka Senghor, and venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz,” they wrote.
“Those in the exclusive beta group describe the Clubhouse experience as a mashup of listening to a podcast while scrolling through your Twitter feed and attending a conference remotely.”
Find out more about why the audio-based social network is getting so much buzz:
Silicon Valley is Going Crazy for Clubhouse
Clubhouse Voice Chat Leads a Wave of Spontaneous Social Apps