Hubhopper, a Podcast platform, raises investment from Hindustan Times Media

Hubhopper, a Delhi-based podcast hosting platform, raised funding from the Hindustan Times Media. This strategic investment helped Hindustan Times Media to own a minor stake in the podcast platform, making the company one of the stakeholders. 

In an official statement by Hubhopper, the company mentioned its plans to use this funding for growing its podcast ecosystem in India. They also plan to empower Indian creators with the technology and the tools to help them grow their online network. By using this funding, Hubstopper will allow the creators to host, create, launch, distribute, and monetize their online podcasts and audio content channels. 

Hubhopper is already 50 partners strong and wants to use the investment to develop more strategic partnerships and build its distribution network. They already have partnered with several big names such as Spotify, Samsung, Gaana, Paytm, Wynk, PhonePe, Indus Os, Karbonn, and more. 

Hubhopper was founded by Gautam Raj Anand in 2015 and has helped several budding Indian podcasters to develop their network. Gautam had some interesting thoughts about this new investment, “Audio is an incredibly special medium. It’s more language, literacy, and capital agnostic than its contemporaries and has a special place in the hearts and lives of Indian people. Hubhopper’s endeavor along with Hindustan Media is to continue to champion this community and democratise podcasting for all. We have only scratched the tip of this iceberg.”

The Indian Podcast industry has seen a sudden rise in interest from several global investors, and by leveraging this investment, Hubhopper plans to help the industry grow. In November 2020, Pratilipi, a Tencent-backed company, took over IVM podcasts to consolidate space in the Indian Podcast Industry. 

Even big global giants such as Amazon are trying to own a stake in the industry by purchasing Wondery, a four-year-old podcast network. Sirius XM purchased the podcasting companies Stitcher and Simplecast after spending millions of dollars. Even Twitter bought themselves a stake in the industry by acquiring Breaker. 

Nishant Kumar, the Head of Partnerships at Hubhopper, mentioned, “Hubhopper has always endeavored to make audio creation and consumption accessible through robust and innovative technology platforms. This strategic partnership between Hindustan Media and Hubhopper marks a turning point in the development of India’s podcast landscape. We look forward to together bringing this incredible medium of digital audio to every creator and consumer in India,”

The Indian Podcast Industry has grown tremendously in the last few years and seeing the recent interests of big global conglomerates, it is safe to say the industry has a great future.