Vietnam’s audiobook and podcast platform Voiz FM secures seed funding from 500 Startups

June 02, 2020 | 15:08

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Voiz FM announced that it successfully raised an undisclosed seed amount from 500 Startups Vietnam. The audiobook and podcast platform has seen doubled growth in its user base in recent months, following a surge in demand as customers turn to audio media during the coronavirus quarantine.

vietnams audiobook and podcast platform voiz fm secures seed funding from 500 startups

Voiz FM secured seed funding from 500 Startups

Voiz FM was launched in late 2019 by a group of three Vietnamese co-founders to capitalise on opportunities in the emerging audio media space. According to Deloitte, the global audiobook and podcasting markets are set to grow to $3.5 and $1.1 billion in 2020, respectively. It demonstrates impressive annual growths of 25 and 30 per cent, compared to that of the broader global media and entertainment sector at 4 per cent.

Voiz FM started off with audiobooks. In contrast to a number of other Vietnam-based platforms making “easy money” from online piracy, Voiz FM has taken a long-term approach and attained copyrights for 100 per cent of its published content. In only six months, it has acquired exclusive publishing rights for more than 1,000 best-selling titles, partnering with top-tier publishers in Vietnam including First News, Kim Dong, and Tre Publishers, among others.

According to Binh Tran, general partner of 500 Startups Vietnam, the venture capitalist is bullish on the market opportunities as well as the team’s dedication to customers.

Voiz FM will spend the new funding on product development and market expansion. “Our product roadmap includes the launch of a recommendation algorithm in early July and an AI Voice functionality, which will allow users to choose their prefered voices for all titles, in October this year,” said Thai Tran, co-founder and CEO of Voiz FM. These developments are expected to further enhance its user experience and improve production productivity. The team also plans to expand to other Southeast Asian markets in the near future.

By Thanh Van

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