Auxbus raises seed round, expands team

Asheville NC, USA—Auxbus, Inc. (formerly Podcraft), has raised its seed round of investment, expanded its team, and launched a prerelease version of its app. The developer of the first end-to-end podcast creation platform for brands, Auxbus® is poised to take a leadership position in the podcast industry.

The company’s oversubscribed seed round was led by the High Country Impact Fund, a Boone, NC investment group, with additional investments from Marco Massini of Mercurio Capital Partners, Asheville entrepreneur Sean Moore, and Entrepreneurs on Fire podcaster John Lee Dumas.

Founded in 2018 by 15-year audio industry veteran, Dan Radin, Auxbus eliminates the overwhelm of planning, creating, producing, and distributing professional-quality podcasts for businesses and brands. Prior to Auxbus, Radin developed and launched more than 75 audio technology products at Harman®, SteelSeries®, and Alesis®, following marketing roles with Sennheiser® and Zildjian®.

Auxbus’s end-to-end platform enables professional podcasting at less cost than a high-end studio, and in far less time than in-house production. Creators can easily plan and record podcasts, while Auxbus handles production and distribution. The company’s proprietary technologies include:

• Custom-crafted sound processing for instant audio quality and leveling
• Studio-quality connection with multiple guests and co-hosts, wherever they are
• Automatic episode assembly and distribution to outlets including Apple®, Google®, and Spotify®

These technologies superpower Auxbus’s human producers, preparing files for them, and providing them real-time information for the most intelligent podcast production. A free trial is available at auxbus.com.

Auxbus continues to attract both acclaim and new talent. The company was recently selected for Venture Asheville’s Elevate program, modeled on MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service. The company also has several new additions and promotions aimed to grow commercial, promotional, and technical capabilities:

• John Lee Dumas has joined Auxbus as Chief Ambassador. Dumas is the founder and host of the award-winning Entrepreneurs On Fire podcast. He has built a robust portfolio of products for entrepreneurs, podcasters, and businesspeople. He will provide strategic support for the Auxbus team, brand, and product.
• Eric Boyer has joined Auxbus as Senior Vice President of Global Sales, leading the company’s commercial strategy. Boyer most recently lead microphone and headphone sales at Harman as VP Global Sales, and has held sales, marketing, and operations leadership roles with PreSonus® and Blue Microphones® audio technology companies.
• Auxbus has promoted founding engineer Ryan DuVal to Principal Software Engineer and Meghan Bausone to Director of User Experience and Product Management, and appreciates their foundational contributions tremendously.
• Joining Radin, who serves as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors are Pete Catoe of High Country Impact Fund, Founder and CEO of ECR Software® Corporation, and Jeff Poggi, co-CEO of the McIntosh® Group of home audio equipment brands.

“The High Country Impact Fund is excited to lead this round,” stated President Mark Gould. “We are a new angel fund supporting high-growth, early stage companies, with an aim to increase economic development, higher-wage job creation, and to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Western North Carolina.”

“I’ve spent my entire adult life building products that help people create and experience sound,” said Dan Radin, Auxbus CEO. “Everything I’ve learned about people, product, and process is built into Auxbus: an audio experience company with an ambition to make technology disappear.”

The Auxbus prerelease app and more information on the company are both available at auxbus.com. Auxbus donates a percentage of revenue annually to fund cochlear implants and services for children born with hearing impairments.

About Auxbus, Inc.

Auxbus® is an Asheville, NC-based developer of audio creation tools. Auxbus eliminates the pain of planning, creating, producing, and distributing podcasts for businesses and brands (SMBs). The company’s end-to-end app guides planning and recording, and its digitally superpowered human producers handle production and distribution, enabling professional podcasts, at less cost, in less time. Auxbus donates a percentage of revenue annually to fund cochlear implants and services for children born with hearing impairments. For more information, visit auxbus.com.