Podimo Buys Arc.Studio & Hires Of Ex-Netflix, Google & BBC Execs
EXCLUSIVE: Copenhagen’s Podimo just made some eye-catching moves in the podcast space, as it seeks to build out a European content empire.
We can reveal the podcast company has acquired Germany’s Arc.Studio for an undisclosed amount, and hired several senior entertainment and tech execs, including former Netflix EMEA unscripted production chief Jason Crosby, ex-BBC exec Iain Sawbridge, former Google exec Mehul Fotedar and Daniel Maynard, who was VP of TV and streaming comms for Disney in EMEA.
Podimo is positioning itself as a top European podcast company, providing a one-stop-shop offer for both subscribers and content creators, with studios across Europe and a production machine pumping out more than 700 episodes a month, with a focus on video-led production.
Company co-founder and CEO Morten Strunge told us the company is expecting to grow 50% this year, as its develops its creator revenue share model in new territories such as Germany.
Arc.Studio will join Podimo Studios, the content arm of Podimo, sitting alongside podcast labels Tonny Media and Dag en Nacht in the Netherlands and Danish podcast agency and advertising platform Podads.
The German firm’s co-founders and Managing Directors, Lara Johnen and Hendrik Nagel, will continue to lead Arc.Studio and will report to Georgia Brown, Chief Content Officer at Podimo.
Podimo Studios and Arc.Studio are already well-known to each other, with the latter behind video-led German-language shows such as Girls Girls, Kaffee mit Zitrone, Clare on Air and DES ISSES!.
“We’ve already seen the creative impact of our collaboration with Arc.Studio, and making this a natural next step in our partnership,” said Brown. “By bringing Arc.Studio into Podimo Studios, alongside our other labels and in-house teams, we are strengthening our ability to develop premium, creator-led IP at scale.
“The creator economy is maturing rapidly, and creators increasingly require partners that combine creative ambition with long-term investment and international reach. With Arc.Studio joining Podimo Studios, we are building a truly international home for ambitious, multiplatform storytelling.”
It’s the latest example of the growing scale of the creator economy in Europe. A recent BNP Paribas study revealed the space is currently worth $32.8B in Europe, with projections suggesting it will grow nearly five times by 2032 to hit $157B.
Brown, who has worked at the likes of Fremantle and BBC Studios, talked up the potential for podcasting to be a center of the emerging media ecosystem, noting how it creates close-knit communities among listeners and allows for opportunities to quickly build brands and push into different spaces such as video.
“The unique thing about podcasting is that you’re not just leaning back and consuming a piece of content, it can feel like you’re participating in it,” she said. “That the intimacy of the format between the listener and the host is very unique and creates a very strong community, which is something you can bring to our platform. You can also bring it out to across all the formats.
“The speed at which we can work comparatively to that legacy media world is unbelievable – from us having an idea today, reacting to that proprietary base that we have on our platform to having something out in front of audiences and building those communities can be as short as six weeks. We can move so quickly here, which means we can be on trend. We can really respond to exactly what those audiences want in that moment of their need and that’s an incredibly powerful ability.”
Podimo makes makes its play
Former Amazon Studios Europe boss Brown joined Podimo in May last year, and has since set about building a strategy for the content division.
As part of the expansion plans, Podimo has hired Iain Sawbridge, formerly of mobile games firm King, the BBC and Channel 5, as Chief Commercial Officer; Former Netflix and NBCUniversal exec Crosby as Vice President, Studio & Content Operations; ex-Google exec Mehul Fotedar as Vice President of Product; and ex-Disney exec Daniel Maynard, who was previously an invested partner and Managing Director at UK-vased comms firm WDM Entertainment to lead global communications. All four will be based in London, working closely with Strunge.
In Denmark, Podimo has hired well-known domestic journalist Mette Østergaard as Market Director, Content, and co-founder Nikolaj Koppel is transitioning into a newly created international role as Vice President, Editorial Strategy. In Germany, former Amazon Music executive Benedikt Treuer joins as Head of Content, news which follows the appointments of Patrick Fina as Director of Podimo Studios Germany and Sean Wheatley to local business affairs lead.
“We’re setting up to scale and as we do that, it’s really important that we have people both from the podcasting world who understand this inside out, as well as bringing in fresh voices who can help us think about scaling this globally and really find a way of operating that we think can supercharge this business,” said Brown, who is credited for building Amazon’s studios business from scratch in Europe.
Hiring Crosby, the former Netflix EMEA unscripted production boss and Monkey Kingdom COO, was “a massive win,” said Brown, adding: “He’s well renowned for being that someone that can really dig under the hood of a creator’s businesses, and think about scaling them and growing them to work really efficiently across multiple markets.”
She added Fotedar would help with strategic positioning, and Sawbridge would bring “a different dimension of thoughts” from the gaming industry. Maynard, a well-known PR and comms chief on the international circuit, has fostered a close relationship with Brown over several years.
“It’s really important now that we set the foundation, so we can scale quickly because we see a huge opportunity and I really think the moment is now,” said Brown, who has chaired the UK Screen Sectors Skills Task Force and is on the board of Garden Studios, the sustainable film and TV production hub located in central London.
“The industry is evolving rapidly, with one in three adults now listening to a podcast weekly,” said Podimo chief Strunge. “Collectively, these appointments bring together leadership talent from some of the world’s most influential entertainment and technology companies, and we are deliberately building a team with the experience to scale global platforms while staying true to our creator-first philosophy.
“By expanding Podimo Studios and strengthening our product and commercial capabilities, we are creating a company that combines creative excellence with operational discipline, delivering sustainable value for creators, audiences, and partners across international markets.”
Podimo, founded in 2019, has around 1.2 million paying subscribers, more than 350 employees and operates in six European territories. The company has raised around $225M across six funding rounds, and is mow positioning for further growth. We understand at least one major international content player is tracking its progress.
Serial entrepreneur Strunge is known for building Danish telecom provider Onfone before selling it to Denmark’s largest telecoms provider, and founded audiobook subscription firm Mofibo, which was sold to Storytel.
He argues that podcast companies make the mistake of focusing purely on one revenue stream, whereas Podimo has ad-funded and subscription verticals.
“What’s happening in a lot of the markets where we’re now getting to scale is that the podcast format itself is evolving in terms of what type of content verticals are made,” he added. “If you only have an advertiser-funded model then it’s typically advertiser-friendly formats, whereas if you have subscriptions too, suddenly you can unlock new types of formats – history, fiction, kids content and so forth.”
Strunge said seven-year-old Podimo was now profitable in five of the seven European countries in which it operates, but was still in expansion mode. “Last we were up roughly 40% at the top line and made a massive step change in terms of the underlying profitability, and if we don’t expand into new markets, the group will be fully cashflow profitable.
“We posted €10M in EBITDA last year, but I don’t want to optimize for company profitability just yet because it is working. We are showing we can scale it across more markets. Now, with the leadership additions, we have a much more scalable organization that can bring us to the next level.”
