The round was led by Mosaic Ventures, with participation from existing investors including RTP Global, Point Nine Capital, Sierra Ventures, and Andrew NG's AI Fund.In the wave of generative AI, podcast platforms are becoming the new favorites of investors due to their unique charm and growing listener base.
According to the statistics of Podcast Business Journal, the investment in the podcast industry has reached billions of dollars in 2022, showing the strong confidence of the capital market in this field.
Recently, Podcastle, the artificial intelligence tool company focused on podcast creators, ...Announced the successful closing of a $13.5 million Series A funding roundThis news once again confirms the booming podcast economy.
The round was led by Mosaic Ventures, with participation from existing investors including RTP Global, Point Nine Capital, Sierra Ventures, and Andrew NG's AI Fund. In addition, Anthony Casalena, CEO of Squarespace, and René Rechtman, CEO of Moonbug Media, also participated in the round.
Podcastle uplifts its products with its generative AI-powered features, claiming that around a million creators now use its tools. And in the last year, the tool has seen a 10-fold increase in user base.
01 Product: AI tools around podcasting
Podcastle is a comprehensive podcast production solution company with technology and products designed to simplify the process of creating podcasts and other multi-content content. Specifically, some of the key technologies and product features of Podcastle include the following parts:
podcastle studio：
It is a web-based platform that allows users to record, edit, transcribe, and export podcast content directly in their browsers.
Users don't need to install any software, or purchase or configure additional hardware devices, as long as they have a microphone and an internet connection, they can start making podcasts.
Podcastle Studio uses artificial intelligence to automatically identify and remove noise, echoes, and other distractions to improve audio quality.
AI Features:
Podcastle's AI capabilities are equipped with a variety of voice tools, including:
Revoice: This is a generative AI voice cloning tool that allows users to create AI clones of their own voice, or select different languages and accents.
Magic Dust AI: This is an audio enhancer that improves the quality of audio content with a single click, including auto-leveling, trimming, fading, and more.
AI Audio Enhancer: Used to enhance audio quality and eliminate echo and noise.
AI Text to Speech: Convert text into natural-sounding speech with support for multiple languages and accents.
AI Silence Removal and Filler Word Detection: These tools can help users remove long pauses and filler words like "ah", "um", etc. from the audio.
02 Business model: subscription services
Podcastle's business model is primarily focused on podcast creators, with the aim of monetizing itself through subscription services and partnerships.
Specifically, the main patterns include:
Community-driven content monetization:
Podcastle has built a community-driven content monetization model. Community members can increase the degree of popularity through the platform's interaction and sharing mechanism, which may attract the attention of sponsors or advertisers and bring income to creators.
Subscription-based services:
Podcastle offers different levels of subscriptions, including free, pro, and team editions. These subscription plans provide users with different tiers of features and services, and with this tiered pricing strategy, Podcastle is able to cater to podcast creators of different sizes and needs.
Partners & Distribution Channels:
Podcastle has established partnerships with multiple podcast platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, etc., to provide users with convenient content distribution channels. This not only increases the visibility of user content, but also generates potential partner revenue for Podcastle.
03 Founder: Worked in venture capital, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon
The founder and CEO of Podcastle is Arto Yeritsyan. A software engineer and entrepreneur of Armenian descent, Arto Yeritsyan has had a keen interest in computer science and mathematics since childhood, earning a bachelor's degree in both fields from Yerevan State University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in the United States.
Arto Yeritsyan has worked in well-known technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc., as a software engineer, product manager, technical leader, etc. In 2020, he founded Podcastle, hoping to change the status quo of the podcast industry through AI technology and provide better experiences and services for creators and listeners.
Prior to founding Podcastle, Arto Yeritsyan was also involved in BigStory VC, a venture capital firm, where he served as a co-founder and partner. BigStory VC focuses on investing in early-stage startups, especially in the ** and technology sectors. (*AI New Intelligence Author: Raise the Name).