The company also completes a transatlantic investment round with ADA Ventures and the Calm Fund for their full-service Podcast making app, Alitu
(Scotland, UK, 24 January 2022) The Podcast Host is off to a whirlwind start this year launching The Curious Companion, the world’s first ever generative podcast NFT collection. The Curious Companion is a very short story with 6000+ possible variations, minted on the Solana blockchain for podcast fans to collect and own. It’s an experiment designed to encourage podcasters to explore how they can create engaging, unique content for their audience, and earn from their work. Over the course of the next five weeks, the Podcast Host will be releasing 20 variations per week on Solsea for 0.2 SOL each (which is equivalent to $26.84 at the time of writing), to show what can be done.
This will be the first of a number of experiments with Podcasting NFTs to inspire more podcasters to think outside of the box when it comes to monetising their content. The Podcast Host is intrigued by the utility of NFTs and how they could be used in a way that benefits creators without sacrificing the environment. Therefore, Solana has been chosen as the blockchain for this experiment. Per transaction Solana uses 1,837 Joules, approximately the same amount of energy consumed by 2 Google searches. Intrigued by this experiment? The Curious Companion has been minted on Solsea and is available to collect from Tuesday 25th January.
In addition, The Podcast Host has completed a transatlantic round of investment worth £500,000 with UK-based ADA Ventures and US based firm, the Calm Fund for their Podcast making webapp Alitu. Currently powering more than 2,500 podcasters and their shows, Alitu is a full service Podcast making app, providing podcast-specific tools for recording, production, editing and audio cleanup. The app shortens the creation process and removes the tech-stress for users.
With the funding, The Podcast Host team is planning to build out two specific areas; the editing and production experience, and the monetisation of Podcasting. Alitu focusses on an effortless user experience, simplifying what is quite a technical process. Competitors tend to have limited editing functionality, and don’t give podcasters a great deal of control. Something Alitu intends on changing, Colin Gray, founder and CEO, remarked: “Podcasting is meant to be fun! It’s a passion for so many. We want to grow that feeling in Alitu, making sure it’s a real pleasure putting your show together, and releasing your voice into the wild, but all the while giving you the flexibility and control you need to create something great.” This means expanding out the existing editing platform to include more options like background music and templates to add polish, helping podcasters sound like a real pro.
Secondly, exploring monetisation, Alitu can help podcasters include ads or other audience support methods during their episode creation process. Plus, with the launch of the Curious Companion NFT collection, the team will be exploring the idea of including minting capabilities, right inside Alitu. Gray continued, “The production process is so fragmented from monetisation right now. Because we have recording, editing and a content library, all in one place, we can make it so much easier to create and include ads, if you choose to, or even create NFTs in future. And if you have your own products, or want to sell content itself, we can offer creative ways to promote and sell them, all in one place.”
Partnering with investors will allow Gray to speed things up, grow the team, and create the tools that podcasters really want, right now. Matt Penneycard from Ada Ventures said: “Part of our role as an inclusive investor is to seek out the greatest founders in places where others may not be looking. Colin was introduced to Ada Ventures by Bruce Walker, one of our Scotland-based Venture Scouts, and we’re especially thrilled to be backing this Dundee-based business. Ada Ventures is a thematic investor, seeking out the largest waves of tech disruption and value creation. Our investment thesis with Alitu is based on the long-term potential of the podcasting medium, and our desire to fund the audio infrastructure layer of the future with amazing founders like Colin.”
The UK podcasting industry is showing an exciting year-on-year growth, forecasts from Statista predict close to 20 million listeners by 2024. There is no time like the present for people to get their own started, be it for personal entertainment or as part of a brand strategy. Alitu makes it possible for everyone to explore this exciting space!
For more information visit https://academy.thepodcasthost.com/join-the-podverse/