Podcast listeners crossed half a billion individuals on the finish of final yr as listenership maintained regular development. With nations within the Arab world having a few of the most engaged listeners, a podcasting startup out of Dubai is doubling down on the chance.
Podeo is a UAE-based podcast distribution platform that has made a reputation for itself within the Arab world. After reaching a subscriber base of fifty million, it believes it has discovered the system for tapping customers in rising markets, it has now raised a Sequence A of $5.4 million to broaden in Latin America, Jap Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Oraseya Capital, the VC arm of Dubai Built-in Financial Zones Authority, is main this spherical. Different individuals within the Sequence A embody Ibtikar Fund, Cedar Mundi Ventures, Samarium, iSME, and returning investor Razor Capital.
Podeo actually lit up and got here to life in 2020, however that was not when it began. CEO Stefano Fallaha first got here up with the concept when nonetheless a highschool pupil in Beirut in 2015-2016, a aspect challenge the place he tried to construct an audio-based social community, calling it Fallound — a variation on his personal identify that additionally feels like sound/round. The startup then shifted gears to develop into as a sensible podcast aggregator that made suggestions primarily based on, for example, mode of transportation and size of journey, curiosity, and moods.
The app because it existed, nonetheless, failed to realize traction within the Center East-North Africa area (MENA) that it focused, attributable to a dearth of attention-grabbing Arabic content material, Fallaha informed TechCrunch.
However because the unlucky saying about media goes, unhealthy information sells. It was the notorious Beirut chemical explosion in 2020 — which killed greater than 200 individuals, displaced an additional 300,000, value an estimated $15 billion in property injury, was so sturdy that it was felt in different nations, and didn’t have a right away rationalization — that turned issues round.
Individuals turned to Podeo to share their experiences and different tales, prayers, and messages of hope. “Genuine storytelling was extra pressing than ever,” Fallaha stated.
It was a pivotal second for the startup. “It solidified our function not simply as a platform for expression, however as an area for individuals to attach, heal, and discover consolation in shared tales,” he stated. Anthony Essaye and Mario Hayek who each have been software program engineers at Fallound going again to 2018, signed on as full co-founders as the corporate reinvented itself but once more out of that viral success. The corporate relocated to Dubai and it’s been going at full quantity since.
Podcasting as a medium has largely grown on the success and profile in choose markets. A worldwide podcasting analysis report from eMarketer, for instance, doesn’t even embody Jap Europe, the Center East and Africa.
However one other research, from YouGov, reveals an attention-grabbing pattern: individuals in very populous nations in these areas which are much less within the podcast highlight grow to be a few of the most engaged. South Africa, if discovered, “is house to the very best proportion of normal podcast listeners of any market surveyed, at 68%.” Saudi Arabia ranked second globally at 59%, with Egypt at 56%, UAE at 53%, and Morocco at 45% — all “above-average.” (Sarcastically, Podeo’s house market of Lebanon was one of many solely surveyed that, at 31%, was beneath the worldwide common of normal podcast listeners.)
Fallaha believes what it’s constructed thus far could be a sturdy template for concentrating on that lengthy tail of different markets.
“As we broaden globally throughout Southeast Asia, Jap Europe and Latam, Podeo continues to show that storytelling is a common bridge, important for connection and understanding,” he stated.
To hold on with genuine storytelling, particularly in Arabic, Podeo dived into producing unique podcasts and collaborating with creators to supply its subscribers selection.
Fallaha stated collaborating with creators revealed to the startup that podcasters used totally different instruments, which made the manufacturing course of prolonged. This led Podeo to construct extra software program, particularly end-to-end merchandise to provide creators full manufacturing assist.
Now podcasters can audio edit, sound design, do branding, and blend their audio on Podeo and “inside 24 hours, mark it with notes and obtain a totally polished, ready-for-distribution episode.” Podeo makes use of its ad-tech resolution to programmatically inject adverts at a number of factors all through the episodes, giving creators a straightforward strategy to generate profits.
With this strategy, Podeo was capable of appeal to creators in droves, onboarding greater than 100,000 in below two years.
Nevertheless, whereas content material streamed in, listenership was subpar, forcing Podeo to go for various channels to faucet a wider viewers base. The startup fashioned partnerships with a number of offline and on-line channels, together with conventional radio stations; Jawaker, a card recreation app in MENA, the place the startup built-in an SDK to permit avid gamers to passively hear whereas taking part in; and with in-flight leisure supplier Anuvu.
Not like common platforms corresponding to Podimo, Podeo doesn’t cost listeners any subscription price, and can quickly not require creators to pay for subscriptions, as an alternative relying solely on promoting for income.
“At Podeo, our mission is to develop alongside our creators, and we refuse to let subscription charges stand in the best way of unlocking their full potential. That’s why we’re eliminating all creator subscription packages, making Podeo a very free internet hosting and distribution platform,” stated Fallaha. “We don’t impose a paywall for listeners, and we stay dedicated to proceed including solely income fashions that actually empower creators — like memberships, tipping, and tokenization — so their voices can thrive and be monetized with out limitations.”
Having a decentralized medium, Fallaha says, is a singular alternative that permits them to deliver podcasts to channels that folks already use to eat audio content material.
“Our enterprise mannequin additionally aligns completely with creators’ wants: we’re not chasing consolidated app audiences to monetize in a single house. As an alternative, we’ve developed ad-tech that distributes adverts seamlessly throughout all these decentralized channels. Creators acquire entry to new audiences they hadn’t imagined, whereas manufacturers optimize their budgets throughout a number of platforms without delay, without having to go on to a radio or streaming app.”
Fallaha says by taking hyper-local approaches to provide, demand, and monetization, Podeo is addressing wants of rising markets, giving them a aggressive benefit over worldwide gamers corresponding to Acast, which entered the MENA area final yr.
