Acast acquires podcast database Podchaser

Acast has acquired podcast database company Podchaser, the companies announced today.

The acquisition will allow for “deep integration” of Podchaser and its proprietary data with Acast to “deliver the industry’s richest set of authoritative structured metadata”.

The Swedish-founded Acast currently lays claim to being the world’s largest independent podcast company, hosting over 40,000 podcasts on its platform and offering monetization and growth tools for fledgling podcasters.

“As true champions of open podcasting, Acast and Podchaser combined will accelerate the innovation and democratization of the podcasting ecosystem for podcasters, listeners, and advertisers everywhere,” said Acast CEO Ross Adams.

“Together, we will unlock the vast opportunity that we know exists for open podcasting to not just have parity with the data held by closed, paywalled platforms, but to leap forward and surpass them.”

Under the acquisition agreement, Podchaser will continue to operate as a separate brand and independent business.

Founded in 2016, the Oklahoma City-based company is now home to a global podcast database that covers over 4.5 million unique podcasts and 1.7 billion data points, including hundreds of thousands of ratings and reviews, as well as advertisers of the world’s top 5,000 podcasts.

Podchaser also provides transparent data for advertisers and marketing professionals to more efficiently find and reach engaged podcast audiences, and supplies additional resources for increasing podcast discoverability.

Bradley Davis, CEO of Podchaser, stated: “Podchaser and Acast have a shared ethos around supercharging the open podcast ecosystem and creating the best tools possible for listeners, podcasters, and advertisers. It’s this conviction, coupled with Acast’s relentless execution, that makes it the perfect home for Podchaser’s continued mission.”