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Entercom Buys Podcorn Podcasting Ad-Tech Platform For Up To $22.5 Million

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Entercom Communications Corp. ETM has acquired  Podcorn, a podcasting ad-tech platform that connects thousands of advertisers and podcasters to create native brand sponsorships. Podcorn co-founders Agnes Kozera and David Kierzkowski will join the Entercom leadership as executives and continue running Podcorn as a separate brand within the radio and podcasting company.

Under terms of the acquisition, Podcorn is valued at $22.5 million. Entercom will pay $14.6 million upfront in cash, with earn-out provisions based on performance over the next three years that could add to more.

“The acquisition of Podcorn expands Entercom’s product offering for advertisers and builds on our position as one of the country’s three largest podcast publishers and the No. 1 creator of original, premium audio content,” said Entercom Chairman, President and CEO David Field in a release. “By making it easier for brands to collaborate with targeted podcast creators of all sizes, we are addressing an important market opportunity in the fastest growing segment of media.”

The deal is yet another M&A move in the podcast sector, which has seen continued consolidation amid ongoing growth, ranging from a series of content acquisitions by Spotify (Gimbel, Anchor.fm) and Amazon (Wondery) on down. Other parts of the audio sector have also been hot, from the popular meditation apps Headspace and Calm to the sudden popularity of social-audio site Clubhouse and Twitter’s competing Spaces offering.

Podcorn operates as a matching service between marketers seeking suitable, targeted podcasts that they can sponsor with native branding formats such as unboxing, reviews, panels, guest interviews and other options beyond typical host-read messages. The service connects hundreds of brands with some 40,000 podcasters.

It’s the second exit for startup entrepreneurs Kozera and Kierzkowski, who sold their previous company, FameBit, to Google in 2016. FameBit functioned in somewhat similar fashion to Podcorn, connecting online influencers with brands wanting to make sponsorship deals. The pair left Google after about a year there, and started Podcorn in the Los Angeles area in 2019.

Philadelphia-based Entercom creates and distributes live, original and local audio content from podcast studios Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios. It also has a network of radio stations, digital operations under Radio.com, and sports-betting services.

Last week, Entercom reported Q4 earnings, with net revenues up 19 percent quarter over quarter to $319.5 million. The company reported an operating loss of $204.9 million, which including a non-cash impairment charge of $247.4 million.

During Q4, Entercom acquired for $32 million QL Gaming Group, a company that provides sports-betting data and predictive analytics, and signed a multiyear ad partnership with FanDuel.

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