Podcorn launches platform to deliver the next generation of native podcast advertising and streamline podcaster discovery with matching engine

Los Angeles CA, USA—Podcorn​, the marketplace enabling podcasters and brands to collaborate for native branded content, today announces the launch of its self-service platform, streamlining podcaster discovery and providing the tools to run native podcast ads at scale.​ ​There are currently more than 700,000 podcasters in the industry, but 85 percent do not monetize. Podcorn aims to help solve this monetization gap through native sponsorships. ​Within the last three weeks, brand partners across gaming, fitness, fashion, B2B, food, and entertainment have already allocated hundreds of thousands of spend to run native campaigns with Podcorn.

As the first podcast monetization platform focusing entirely on alternative creative ad formats, Podcorn connects brands with podcasters based on certain criteria such as content, audiences and business goals. The algorithm uses machine learning to analyze campaign data and understand what works or doesn’t work for a given brand or podcaster, optimizing on a campaign basis to continuously improve its matches. Brands sign up, create a campaign and indicate certain campaign criteria such as their campaign budget, types of ad creatives, and types of podcasters they would like to work with. Podcorn then uses its sponsorship graph to match the campaign with the best suited podcasters and when both parties agree to the deal, the system sets up a virtual workroom for the project. The funds are kept in escrow during the campaign and released only upon completion of the project.

“Every podcaster has a unique sponsorship graph,” ​said ​David Kierzkowski, Co-Founder of Podcorn. “We built the infrastructure to connect the dots to gain more context about each podcaster’s identity​, their content, and what our brands are looking for. Our goal is to encode relationships and surface the most relevant matches to truly scale native branded content, drive higher ROI for brands, and increase the rate at which podcasters monetize their content.”

“From our conversations with our brand partners and podcasters we can see that we have built something that the industry really needs,” said ​Agnes Kozera, Co-Founder of Podcorn.​ “The excitement we’re seeing is much bigger than even the early days of video influencers. Brands now understand the value of partnering with relevant personalities, and with podcasts, the vertical scope and content diversity are much wider. It supports longer, more intimate ad formats for more authentic integrations, and brands don’t have to wait for audiences to be glued to a screen in order to reach them.”

Designed by the creators and founders of FameBit, the Google-acquired marketing platform designed to help YouTube creators better connect with brands, Podcorn strives to merge influencer marketing with podcasting and ​drive more advertisers to connect to and discover relevant podcasters to sponsor while fueling content creation. Podcorn raised a $2.2 million seed round in August, which was led by Global Founders Capital ​with participation from Bessemer, 500 Startups, Correlation Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, and others.