This Nigerian software engineer has just been hired to develop Clubhouse Android app

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world, many countries instituted lockdown measures to contain the spread of the virus. It was also during this period that the creativity of the world in the app space was unleashed.

Mobile and web-based applications like Zoom among others became very popular and convenient for lectures and corporate meetings. One app that is also very popular among social media users and organizations is Clubhouse.

Clubhouse allows users to gather in audio-only virtual rooms to discuss various topics, from politics to social issues to popular culture.

The app, since its debut, has been on the iOS platform, giving only iPhone users exclusive access to the platform. Despite the app’s exclusivity, it has reached more than 10 million weekly users, according to co-founders of the app Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, CNBC reports.

Android users, who largely dominate the phone market space, were excluded from it. Now the founders of the app want to extend their reach to included Android users. To this end, the media audio app has hired Nigerian software engineer Mopewa Ogundipe to develop the Android version of the app. The development of the Android version comes on the heels of a new funding round from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in January.

According to Axios, the San Francisco-based audio social network raised $100 million in the funding round. This gave Clubhouse a $1 billion post-money valuation. “Today was my first day at @joinClubhouse,” Mopewa Ogundipe tweeted recently. “If you know me, you probably know I have *opinions* about iOS-only apps so I’m v. excited to be joining the team to bring the party to Android.”

Ogundipe, who describes herself as an “Android developer since the Gingerbread days,” joins Clubhouse after working with firms including an online media publishing company, Medium. She worked on the medium android app and backend systems to support it. 

She also worked as a Software Engineer at Khan Academy, United States, before joining Medium. And also worked at Instagram as a Software Engineer Intern.

The Nigerian is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Robotics.