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“From the first meeting between the Pembroke and Auddy teams, the detailed but agile approach has been refreshingly indicative of exciting times for the future of our partnership.” – Andrew Craissati, CEO and Co-Founder of Auddy.
Pembroke VCT plc, the venture capital trust focused on backing early-stage businesses led by exceptional founders and management teams, has invested into Auddy, the award-winning podcast business founded by former Virgin Executive and Virgin Radio International founder, Andrew Craissati. The £2.5 million round was led by Pembroke VCT, which invested £1.8 million, and was supported by existing investors Haatch Ventures and Brick Capital Ventures.
Auddy was established in 2020 by Andrew together with co-founders comprising senior executives from Netflix, Warner Music and EMI. Drawing on an illustrious career in audio and media (for organisations such as Universal Studios and National Geographic), Andrew recognised the challenges faced by advertisers, brands and organisations in their quest for podcast solutions across advertisement sales, distribution, production and private podcast solutions.
Auddy operates three main revenue streams:
- Selling advertising inventory for leading podcasts in the UK and European markets
- Producing original, high-quality award-winning podcasts for well-known brands such as Selfridges, Fenwick’s, Soho House, and Greenpeace
- A ‘private podcasting’ service that provides an end-to-end solution which offers an organisation the ability to share audio content directly with a targeted community in a private environment.
With over 4,000 podcast shows, 12 million monthly downloads and a historical 11 million downloads in the UK alone, Auddy’s podcasts include popular titles such as Science-ish, Inside the Tour and Smoke Screen.
The investment will help support Auddy to continue its organic growth and further invest in both technology and content. The market for podcasting is among the world’s fastest growing content-based industries, with over 23 million UK weekly listeners. Researchers consistently forecast over 25% yearly industry growth through to 2028 and beyond, courtesy of advances in content investment, a growth in listeners and time spent consuming podcasts.
Simon Porter, Investment Director, Pembroke Investment Managers LLP commented: “Auddy offers a unique and exciting prospect to businesses looking to use audio as a core part of their communications toolset and is poised to take advantage of surging growth in the podcasting sector over the coming years. We look forward to working closely with Andrew and his brilliant team to help Auddy achieve its ambitions in the years ahead.”
Andrew Craissati, Founder & CEO Auddy Limited added: “Meeting Pembroke and working with Simon, Fred and Angus has been a thoroughly enjoyable and professional experience. From the first meeting between the Pembroke and Auddy teams, the detailed but agile approach has been refreshingly indicative of exciting times for the future of our partnership. Pembroke also showed considerable interest in and support for our existing and amazing family of shareholders and investors: as our lead investor, Pembroke has rightfully earned the position to support Auddy going into our next exciting chapter.”
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