iHeartMedia is leading a Series A investment round for Sounder, a podcast platform formed in 2019 by former Spotify and Google executives, the companies said on Wednesday.
The investment will coincide with a commercial partnership between the two companies that will see iHeart’s 750+ original podcasts use Sounder’s technology to improve audience data insights and boost monetization. iHeart will also use Sounder’s automated advertising service, called Audio Data Cloud, that will allow advertisers to place ad spots more seamlessly in shows that fit with the company’s brand identity.
“It’s critical that we learn from the challenges advertisers have had with video and social media to deliver safety tools and controls that allow brands to customize their campaigns and ensure that their ads will be delivered at scale in a brand safe environment,” iHeartMedia’s chief data officer, Brian Kaminsky, said in a statement. “Our partnership with Sounder underscores our commitment to innovation in audio advertising and our goal of creating more meaningful connections between advertisers and listeners.”
Sounder was co-founded by Kal Amin, formerly the vp of global business operations at Spotify, and Dan Daugherty, a former sales and operations manager at Google. “We’re excited to have iHeartMedia as a commercial partner and strategic investor. We are eager to help iHeartMedia, the world’s leading audio publisher, realize the true value of audio,” Amin, Sounder’s CEO, said.
The partnership comes one year after iHeart acquired the ad technology firm Triton Digital for $230 million.
