Podcast listeners crossed half a billion individuals on the finish of final 12 months as listenership maintained regular progress. With nations within the Arab world having among 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 formulation for tapping shoppers in rising markets, it has now raised a Collection A of $5.4 million to increase 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 contributors within the Collection A embrace 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 scholar in Beirut in 2015-2016, a facet challenge the place he tried to construct an audio-based social community, calling it Fallound — a variation on his personal identify that additionally appears like sound/round. The startup then shifted gears to turn out to be as a sensible podcast aggregator that made suggestions primarily based on, as an 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, as a consequence of a dearth of attention-grabbing Arabic content material, Fallaha advised TechCrunch.
However because the unlucky saying about media goes, dangerous information sells. It was the notorious Beirut chemical explosion in 2020 — which killed greater than 200 individuals, displaced an extra 300,000, price an estimated $15 billion in property harm, was so sturdy that it was felt in different nations, and didn’t have an instantaneous rationalization — that turned issues round.
Folks turned to Podeo to share their experiences and different tales, prayers, and messages of hope. “Authentic storytelling was more urgent than ever,” Fallaha mentioned.
It was a pivotal second for the startup. “It solidified our role not just as a platform for expression, but as a space for people to connect, heal, and find comfort in shared stories,” he mentioned. 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 embrace Jap Europe, the Center East and Africa.
However one other research, from YouGov, reveals an attention-grabbing development: individuals in very populous nations in these areas which can be much less within the podcast highlight develop into among the most engaged. South Africa, if discovered, “is home to the highest proportion of regular 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.” (Paradoxically, Podeo’s residence market of Lebanon was one of many solely surveyed that, at 31%, was beneath the worldwide common of standard podcast listeners.)
Fallaha believes what it’s constructed to date could be a sturdy template for concentrating on that lengthy tail of different markets.
“As we expand globally across Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latam, Podeo continues to prove that storytelling is a universal bridge, essential for connection and understanding,” he mentioned.
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 mentioned collaborating with creators revealed to the startup that podcasters used completely different instruments, which made the manufacturing course of prolonged. This led Podeo to construct extra software program, particularly end-to-end merchandise to present creators full manufacturing assist.
Now podcasters can audio edit, sound design, do branding, and blend their audio on Podeo and “within 24 hours, mark it with notes and receive a fully polished, ready-for-distribution episode.” Podeo makes use of its ad-tech answer to programmatically inject advertisements at a number of factors all through the episodes, giving creators a straightforward strategy to make cash.
With this strategy, Podeo was in a position to entice creators in droves, onboarding greater than 100,000 in underneath two years.
Nonetheless, whereas content material streamed in, listenership was subpar, forcing Podeo to go for different channels to faucet a wider viewers base. The startup shaped 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.
In contrast to standard platforms equivalent to Podimo, Podeo doesn’t cost listeners any subscription price, and can quickly not require creators to pay for subscriptions, as a substitute relying completely on promoting for income.
“At Podeo, our mission is to grow alongside our creators, and we refuse to let subscription fees stand in the way of unlocking their full potential. That’s why we’re eliminating all creator subscription packages, making Podeo a completely free hosting and distribution platform,” mentioned Fallaha. “We don’t impose a paywall for listeners, and we remain committed to continue adding only revenue models that truly empower creators — like memberships, tipping, and tokenization — so their voices can thrive and be monetized without limitations.”
Having a decentralized medium, Fallaha says, is a singular alternative that enables them to deliver podcasts to channels that folks already use to eat audio content material.
“Our business model also aligns perfectly with creators’ needs: we’re not chasing consolidated app audiences to monetize in one space. Instead, we’ve developed ad-tech that distributes ads seamlessly across all these decentralized channels. Creators gain access to new audiences they hadn’t imagined, while brands optimize their budgets across multiple platforms at once, without needing to go directly 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 equivalent to Acast, which entered the MENA area final 12 months.
