Podz Launches First Audio Newsfeed

The podcast universe is a lot like the actual physical universe. There seems to be as many podcasts as there are stars in all the galaxies. For avid listeners, finding new and compelling podcasts is often the proverbial "needle in the haystack" experience.

 A new company with a technology solution has launched Podz, which identifies the best 60-second clips of podcasts, and transforms them into videos, assembling a personalized feed of highlights.

 ​Podz​ advertises its service as "revolutionizing the decades-old process of podcast discovery with the first audio newsfeed." Podz launched in mid-February on iOS.

“We imagine a world where podcasts effectively compete for attention with 100-character Tweets and 10-second stories,” said Co-founder and CEO Doug Imbruce. “Podz levels the playing field between podcasts and social media through an algorithmic approach to content creation and discovery, allowing us to fit this amazing medium into our busy digital lives every day.”

 Podz analyzes hobbies and interests to identify relevant podcasts, then uses several key technologies to select the highest quality clips for each listener, combining them into an experience that’s a perfect blend of fast-moving social media and thoughtful audio commentary. After viewing a highlight, listeners are invited to play the full-length podcast with one tap – and as listening increases, Podz becomes more personalized.

“We are living in a golden age of audio, but only one percent of podcasts reach an audience of 5,000 plus. The growth of audio is leaving individual creators behind, and Podz equips these creators with the distribution tools needed to increase their reach and discovery,” said Latif Peracha, GeneralPartner of M13, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm.

“Doug and team have the consumer mobile track record to build the default platform for discovering audio,” Peracha adds.

 Podz was created by a team with experience in consumer mobile, having previously launched Qwiki (acquired by Yahoo!), which developed a series of popular products on the iPad and iPhone. Qwiki won TechCrunch Disrupt and earned “Best of the Year” honors from​ Apple​, The Webby Awards, Time Inc. ​and more​.

Podz Listener features include the ability to discover an infinite playlist filled with 60-second highlights of podcasts they love, created using the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Listeners will be able to hear clips from your favorite shows then tap to play the full-length episode and save clips to your user profile for later listening.

Podz also enables listeners to connect to Apple Podcasts to get access to your podcast subscriptions and soon access to Spotify podcast subscriptions will be enabled.

You can check out Podz here.