Acast
Podnews supporterAd sales and monetisation · Hosting platforms
Address: 
Kungsgatan 28, 111 35 Stockholm, Sweden
Acast is a Swedish-founded company that provides hosting, monetization and growth support for podcasts, and podcast advertising solutions for brands and media agencies. Launching in 2014, it developed a dynamic insertion technology which can target advertising within podcasts based on location, time, and personal data. The company champions an independent and open ecosystem for podcasting, where podcasts hosted with Acast are available on all podcast listening apps. Acast was founded by Karl Rosander and Måns Ulvestam in 2013; together with Johan Billgren as co-founder. Acast hosts over 88,000 podcasts, with over 430 million listens every month. The company operates worldwide with a physical presence in 15 countries, and has its headquarters in Stockholm. Wikipedia
Website: www.acast.com
Symbol: ACAST:STO
Owns
Acast is IAB Certified
It was certified for v2.1 of the IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines on Oct 1, 2021.
It is certified for Download, Listener, Ad Delivery and Client-Confirmed Ad Play. Learn more
Latest news
- Nov 15: Acast has tweaked its free podcast hosting plan. It used to offer unlimited episodes; it now offers up to five; and there are adjustments to website and embed player customisation options. “We're making these changes to ensure we can continue providing reliable, high-quality hosting services for the long term,” said an Acast spokesperson. “Like many platforms, we've found that a balanced approach between free and premium features helps us invest in better infrastructure and support.”
- Nov 14: Acast now represents the TED Audio Collective for ad sales, hosting and distribution. TED Talks Daily, the flagship show of the network, is currently a top 40 podcast in the US. TED moves from PRX and Soundrise. The deal covers everywhere outside Australia and New Zealand, where ARN’s iHeart is currently partner.
- Nov 7: Spotify for Podcasters is still the #1 podcast hosting company, in terms of share of new episodes. Spreaker increased its hold on the #2 slot; Buzzsprout remains at #3. Acast has moved up to #8, with an all-time record share of 2.5%.
- Nov 6: Acast released its Q3/24 financial report. Sales grew by 12% year-on-year to US$45.6mn, including North America growing at 29%; Europe as a whole saw just a 3% growth, and comments from Ross Adams seem to suggest Acast UK is finding it especially tough. The company remains on track for “positive EBITDA” for the year, though made a loss of US $0.6mn in the quarter.
- Oct 31: A new ten-part podcast about NASA’s Space Shuttle era, 16 Sunsets, has been announced with Acast. The show is from TellTale Industries and Antica, the team behind 13 Minutes to the Moon - for which this show appears to have been planned as a third season in 2023 by the BBC - but which never happened, for some reason. The show raised £97,274 (US $125,000) on Kickstarter: the notes there say: “this time the series is not affiliated with the BBC”.
Data credits: Google Maps, IAB, Podnews newsletter, Wikipedia