Podcast platform Acast to acquire Podchaser

Acast, a Swedish podcast hosting and monetization company, on Monday announced that it signed a deal to acquire Podchaser, a U.S.-based company that serves as a database for podcasts.

Why it matters: The deal will give Acast's podcast marketer clients access to better data to target ads. It also opens up a new revenue stream for Acast, which primarily makes money through ad sales.

• Podchaser charges clients for its software that collects and analyzes data.

Details: The deal value totals $34 million, with $27.2 million in the initial acquisition price and $6.8 million based on an earn-out clause, per a statement.

• Podchaser will operate as a separate brand and independent business.
• Acast said it expects Podchaser to be cash-flow positive during 2023.

By the numbers: Podchaser tracks more than 4.5 million podcasts, per a statement, in addition to "hundreds of thousands of ratings and reviews, and the advertisers of the world’s top 5,000 podcasts — making up 1.7 billion data points."

Between the lines: The deal marks Acast's third acquisition in the past few years.

• Last year, the tech firm purchased RadioPublic, the podcast technology startup founded by nonprofit Public Radio Exchange (PRX).
• In 2019, it bought Pippa, a smaller podcast hosting and monetization company.

The big picture: As the podcast landscape matures, more startups across the industry are being consolidated by bigger players.

Go deeper: Podcast deal wars heat up