In a statement provided to VentureBeat today, Hartman said that the Gimlet and Anchor acquisitions are the biggest to hit podcasting yet, and marks what he refers to as the “third wave” of podcast’s evolution.
This, combined with the quick growth of smart speakers, solidified our conviction that people would consume more and more audio content.” “That data, combined with the increasing battery life of iPhones and an increasing amount of connected cars on the road, led us to think there was an opportunity for internet-powered audio. “We saw early data around podcasts having a bit of a resurgence before Serial (a popular investigative journalism podcast) launched,” Hartman said. In a blog post last year, Betaworks Ventures partner Matt Hartman explained why he saw podcasting as a big deal way back then - some of those factors included improving battery life in smartphones and growing connectivity, particularly in automobiles. ‘Third wave’īetaworks Ventures was one of the early venture capital (VC) firms to pinpoint podcasting as a major media vehicle, having invested in both of Spotify’s new acquisitions - Gimlet in 2014, and Anchor a year later. “Based on radio industry data, we believe it is a safe assumption that, over time, more than 20 percent of all Spotify listening will be non-music content,” he said. Today’s news represents the beginning of a shift for Spotify, with cofounder and CEO Daniel Ek noting that podcasting will soon serve as a major facet of its offering. While Spotify was already making some waves in the podcasting realm, with these acquisitions it’s effectively showing its teeth as it goes up against the likes of Apple and Google.
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