Stockholm and London-based Acast, a full service podcast platform, announced today the closing of its Series A funding round. This includes an investment of over $5 million from Bonnier Growth Media and a follow-on investment from early-stage venture capital firm MOOR, promoting their continued belief in the company.
Acast allows users to discover and share on-demand audio content enhanced with videos, images and links. The fresh capital will boost the continued growth of Acast in Europe and accelerate its plans for expansion into the US market, with recruitment already underway for a soon-to-launch New York office.
The investment follows a period of fast growth for Acast, matching a resurgence of consumer interest in the podcast medium following the success of WBEZ’s ‘Serial’. Since its 2014 launch in Sweden and UK, Acast, led by tech entrepreneurs, Måns Ulvestam and Karl Rosander, has grown to 1 million unique users with 12 million streams per month, and hosts 50% of the current British commercial market.
Ulrika Saxon, CEO of Bonnier Growth Media, commented: “We consistently strive to find tomorrow’s media stars who are at the forefront of innovation, and are in sync with the needs of both consumers and advertisers. In Acast we have found exactly that; a strong team with a proven and scalable concept. With their combined focus on tech, data, and sales, we believe that Acast has an extremely interesting position in a growing market.”
Måns Ulvestam, Co-Founder and CEO of Acast, explained: “Since the day we launched, we have been approached by investors on either side of the Atlantic, but for the next stage in our growth, we needed a partner with deep industry knowledge. As one of the world’s longest-established and largest media groups, Bonnier Growth Media matches our requirements as much as we do theirs. They understand that we are a category-defining platform: redefining and revitalising a space by engaging with producers, consumers, and advertisers, in an altogether new way.”
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