Podcorn startup sets its focus on selling podcast sponsorships

The latest startup in the podcast business is promising monetization through sponsorships rather than pre-recorded ads. Podcorn has officially launched its service for podcasters to acquire in-broadcast sponsorships. The strategy takes its inspiration from influencer marketing, which the startup’s founders say can offer podcasters larger revenue totals than programmatic ads.

“For brands, the benefit is that we are scaling the discovery of relevant podcasters of all sizes and making it possible to work with hundreds of really targeted podcasters within their niche at scale,” Podcorn Co-founder Agnes Kozera told TechCrunch. “Historically, if you look at programmatic pre-roll ads in video, programmatic wasn’t enough to sustain the creator ecosystem in terms of revenue and a lot of audiences skip those ads. And importantly, only a small portion of top creators end up making a sustainable income from programmatic because it is strictly based on impressions so smaller creators with niche but very engaged audiences don’t generate a sufficient amount of revenue.”

The actual Podcorn service is a dashboard that lets brands and podcasters manage their relationships, from the initial connection to distribution and analytics. The podcasters can control the sponsors they work with and their pricing and schedules, as well as sharing their own ideas for sponsorship formats. Podcorn offers potential advertisers brand safety tools and supports a range of budgets.

Anna Washenko