Podcasting startup Podeo gets $5.4M to go beyond the Arab world

Podcast listeners crossed half a billion people at the end of last year as listenership maintained steady growth. With countries in the Arab world having some of the most engaged listeners, a podcasting startup out of Dubai is doubling down on the opportunity.

Podeo is a UAE-based podcast distribution platform that has made a name for itself in the Arab world. After reaching a subscriber base of 50 million, it believes it has found the formula for tapping consumers in emerging markets, it has now raised a Series A of $5.4 million to expand in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Oraseya Capital, the VC arm of Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority, is leading this round. Other participants in the Series A include Ibtikar Fund, Cedar Mundi Ventures, Samarium, iSME, and returning investor Razor Capital.

Podeo literally lit up and came to life in 2020, but that was not when it started. CEO Stefano Fallaha first came up with the idea when still a high school student in Beirut in 2015-2016, a side project where he tried to build an audio-based social network, calling it Fallound -- a variation on his own name that also sounds like sound/around. The startup then shifted gears to become as a smart podcast aggregator that made recommendations based on, for instance, mode of transportation and length of journey, interest, and moods.

The app as it existed, however, failed to gain traction in the Middle East-North Africa region (MENA) that it targeted, due to a dearth of interesting Arabic content, Fallaha told TechCrunch.

But as the unfortunate saying about media goes, bad news sells. It was the infamous Beirut chemical explosion in 2020 -- which killed more than 200 people, displaced a further 300,000, cost an estimated $15 billion in property damage, was so strong that it was felt in other countries, and didn't have an immediate explanation -- that turned things around.

People turned to Podeo to share their experiences and other stories, prayers, and messages of hope. “Authentic storytelling was more urgent than ever,” Fallaha said.

It was a pivotal moment for the startup. “It solidified our role not just as a platform for expression, but as a space for people to connect, heal, and find comfort in shared stories,” he said. Anthony Essaye and Mario Hayek who both were software engineers at Fallound going back to 2018, signed on as full co-founders as the company reinvented itself yet again out of that viral success. The company relocated to Dubai and it's been going at full volume since.

Podcasting as a medium has largely grown on the success and profile in select markets. A global podcasting research report from eMarketer, for example, doesn't even include Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

But another study, from YouGov, reveals an interesting trend: people in very populous countries in those regions that are less in the podcast spotlight turn out to be some of the most engaged. South Africa, if found, "is home to the highest proportion of regular podcast listeners of any market surveyed, at 68%." Saudi Arabia ranked second globally at 59%, with Egypt at 56%, UAE at 53%, and Morocco at 45% -- all "above-average." (Ironically, Podeo's home market of Lebanon was one of the only surveyed that, at 31%, was below the global average of regular podcast listeners.)

Fallaha believes what it's built so far can be a strong template for targeting that long tail of other markets.

“As we expand globally across Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latam, Podeo continues to prove that storytelling is a universal bridge, essential for connection and understanding,” he said.

To carry on with authentic storytelling, especially in Arabic, Podeo dived into producing exclusive podcasts and collaborating with creators to offer its subscribers variety.

Fallaha said collaborating with creators revealed to the startup that podcasters used different tools, which made the production process lengthy. This led Podeo to build more software, specifically end-to-end products to give creators full production support.

Now podcasters can audio edit, sound design, do branding, and mix their audio on Podeo and “within 24 hours, mark it with notes and receive a fully polished, ready-for-distribution episode.” Podeo uses its ad-tech solution to programmatically inject ads at several points throughout the episodes, giving creators an easy way to make money.

With this approach, Podeo was able to attract creators in droves, onboarding more than 100,000 in under two years.

However, while content streamed in, listenership was subpar, forcing Podeo to go for alternative channels to tap a wider audience base. The startup formed partnerships with several offline and online channels, including traditional radio stations; Jawaker, a card game app in MENA, where the startup integrated an SDK to allow gamers to passively listen while playing; and with in-flight entertainment provider Anuvu.

Unlike popular platforms such as Podimo, Podeo does not charge listeners any subscription fee, and will soon no longer require creators to pay for subscriptions, instead relying exclusively on advertising for revenue.

“At Podeo, our mission is to grow alongside our creators, and we refuse to let subscription fees stand in the way of unlocking their full potential. That's why we’re eliminating all creator subscription packages, making Podeo a completely free hosting and distribution platform,” said Fallaha. “We don’t impose a paywall for listeners, and we remain committed to continue adding only revenue models that truly empower creators — like memberships, tipping, and tokenization — so their voices can thrive and be monetized without limitations.”

Having a decentralized medium, Fallaha says, is a unique opportunity that allows them to bring podcasts to channels that people already use to consume audio content.

“Our business model also aligns perfectly with creators’ needs: we’re not chasing consolidated app audiences to monetize in one space. Instead, we’ve developed ad-tech that distributes ads seamlessly across all these decentralized channels. Creators gain access to new audiences they hadn’t imagined, while brands optimize their budgets across multiple platforms at once, without needing to go directly to a radio or streaming app.”

Fallaha says by taking hyper-local approaches to supply, demand, and monetization, Podeo is addressing needs of emerging markets, giving them a competitive advantage over international players such as Acast, which entered the MENA region last year.