Sounder, a podcast platform that helps audio creators manage, market, and measure their audio content, announced that it raised $7.7M in a Series A funding round. The company offers its users free hosting, transcription, Pinpoint Audio Search, and analytics to help them grow their audience.
Sounder’s latest funding round was led by US-based iHeartMedia and TechNexus Venture Collaborative, angel group Diverse Angels, Adventure Fund and existing investors Xoogler.
The podcast platform, founded in 2019 by Kal Amin, Dan Daugherty and Goran Krgovic, plans to use the funds to “continue making audio more discoverable and better for everyone while supporting a thriving and innovative ecosystem.”
Amin, who is also the company’s CEO, previous experience includes roles at music streaming service Spotify and social network aggregation company Flipboard.
According to him, the latest investment also validates that artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and Natural language processing (NLP) technology can help accelerate the growth of the audio and podcast industry.
“This is a defining moment for Sounder, but more importantly, for all of us who wake up every day trying to help elevate audio to the same level as formats like video and text-based media”, Amin said in a statement.
Furthermore, Sounder will also be looking to double-down on ML/AI technology.“We will be building Audio Intelligence tools at scale to help empower creators of all sizes to be more successful in their craft”, Amin added.
Expanding the team in Serbia
Aside from having a team in the US and in Europe, the company also plans to expand its presence in the Western Balkans,by enlarging its team in Serbia and hiring people in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina as well.
“There are currently 15 people in Novi Sad, and we are employing another person in the Republika Srpska”, the company’s co-founder Krgovic told Netokracija.
He also added that in the upcoming period, Sounder’s focus will be on the audio data cloud through the improvement of transcription technologies, NLP and AI tools, as well as on the development of a complete monetization solution.
Audio startups are on a rise
Audio startups from the region have been in the spotlight in the past month, as Facebook’s parent company Meta acquired Accusonus, a Greek-founded audio applications development company.
The Greek company develops its own patented ML and AI technology which enables audio and video professionals and non-professionals to directly repair the sound in their videos.
As The Recursive reported earlier, the acquisition was done for an undisclosed amount, estimated between €70M and €100M.
Additionally, sound tech company Krotos recently also closed an undisclosed seven-figure pre-series A round led by Greek Metavallon VC.
