Podcasters, like much of the media world, tend to generate a lot more income when they have an idea of how many people are listening and who those listeners are.
That's where Austin startup Backtracks comes in.
The company's platform tracks behavioral and performance metrics to help podcast creators and the advertisers who may want to partner with them find new ways to target listeners with relevant information and generate revenue.
In short, the company says it draws on data to show who, what, when, where and how folks are listening to a given podcast -- without capturing personally identifiable information. It also provides podcast hosting and playback platforms.
And investors are interested.
Backtracks announced Thursday it has closed a $2.1 million seed round led by Moonshots Capital, which has offices in Austin and Los Angeles. And Moonshots wasn't the only Austin venture capital firm in on the round. Joining it were Capital Factory, Sputnik ATX, Next Coast Ventures and Bull Creek Capital -- as well as Montreal-based BNSG Capital.
Moonshots Capital co-founder and Managing General Partner Kelly Perdew is joining Backtracks' board as part of the agreement.
"Podcasts and spoken-word audio content are experiencing massive growth with an expected 53 percent increase in listenership over the next four years," Backtracks CEO Jonathan Gill said in a news release. "Backtracks allows audio content creators and brands harness the power of that growth to own their revenue and drive audience growth."
Gill, a serial entrepreneur and former AMD senior technical architect, co-founded Backtracks in 2016 with Kevin Wright, a software architect with experience at Strive Logistics, Volusion and Dell.
"The podcasting space is a massive market that is ripe for disruption and Jonathan and Kevin are the team to do it," Mike Smerklo, co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures, said. "They are seasoned founders with deep domain expertise on the complexities of designing an industry-agnostic platform that can integrate different offerings for customers big and small."
The new funding comes as podcasting booms in Austin and around the globe. In the past couple years, several podcasting meetup groups and organizations have formed in the Austin area, including Austin Podcasters, MediaTech Ventures and other groups, which have a variety of events and resources.
