Startups to Watch — Himalaya — the Masterclass for Podcasts?
Himalaya may be brand new but it’s meant to emulate something deeply familiar to 500 million global listeners: Chinese audio network Ximalaya FM. The similarly named new venture comes backed by Ximalaya, as well as private-equity giant General Atlantic and global quant trader SIG. These are not the kind of deep-pocketed investors any preceding podcast entrepreneur has enjoyed.
Himalaya’s U.S. launch is being overseen largely by VP of global partnerships, Peter Vincer, who recently helped turn the Ximalaya-inspired CastBox into one of the U.S.’s top podcasting apps. Vincer’s plan for Himalaya involves taking the same creator-centered approach he applied to CastBox, and mixing in new methods for audience growth, engagement, and monetization. Oh, and variety as well: Vincer projects Himalaya will have hundreds of shows on its roster by the end of 2019. The kind of spending required to realize all these lofty ambitions is why the company comes with Marvel movie-level funding.
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The paywall-based Patreon model works thusly: A creator painstakingly builds audience loyalty with a free podcast, getting them hooked like a drug dealer, before rolling out additional content and bonuses behind the paywall. When it works, as in the case of Chapo Trap House, it works amazingly well. But in order to get to the success threshold where rolling out a Patreon even makes sense, it helps to have a network. Vincer believes that the network can offer the leverage of an accumulated audience and a strong promotional arm. But in some cases, those benefits come with the significant costs of turning over a high percentage of profits or signing away a whole back catalog of IP.
Himalaya wants to streamline this whole process: providing the production and marketing resources to launch and grow shows, rewarding audiences for their loyalty with listener-friendly features and a built-in community, and helping creators monetize in a variety of ways, including allowing listeners to tip them from within the app as well as offer follower bonus for bringing more listeners over to Himalaya. “When you can come at it from a much more strategic mindset where you give more back to creators, it’s easier to grow,” Vincer says. “Even if we don’t cover our costs, we’re willing to pay an amount at a cost per acquired user much like any other tech platform would and come at it from that perspective rather than a content play of how much can we make off these things on average.”
— Spotify and Apple get competition with the new $100M podcasting network Himalaya
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Other podcast platforms include Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Overcast and Castbox. Among start-ups, Himalaya Media, a San Francisco start-up backed by the Chinese audio giant Ximalaya FM, announced last month that it had raised $100 million and would introduce a podcast-distribution app with exclusive shows and a feature that would allow listeners to leave gratuities. Its stated goal? “To climb to the peak of the global podcast space.”