Raises $12M Series A from Sequoia, Goldcrest and Craft

Today, co-founders David Sacks and Axel Ericsson announced the launch of Callin, available today on the Apple App Store. Callin is the first “Social Podcasting” platform where users can create, discover, and consume live and recorded audio content in one place. It combines the best aspects of social audio – live conversations and social discoverability – with the best of podcasting – a library of quality, episodic content that users can listen to anytime.

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Callin also announced today that it has raised $12 million in a Series A financing round co-led by Sequoia Capital, Goldcrest Capital, and Craft Ventures. The company was also incubated at Craft, where Sacks is a founder and general partner.

“When I started doing the All-In Pod last year, I didn’t realize how much work a podcast could be, requiring everything from specialized equipment to hours of post-production work for every episode,” said Sacks. “Callin automates away all of that work and makes it as easy as pushing a button to create a podcast. It turns your phone into a studio for creating audio shows.”

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Callin has built the first vertical stack for podcasting, combining recording, editing, publishing, sharing, and discovery. Anyone can become a creator on Callin in four easy steps:

1. Create Show: Similar to a podcast, a show is where content on Callin lives. It’s extremely easy for users to create their own shows or subscribe to their favorites.
2. Start Room: Creators start a new episode of their show by hosting a live room. It’s like recording a pod in front of a live studio audience. A “caller queue” makes it easy to interact with the audience in a structured way.
3. Edit & Publish Episode: Just because audio content is created live doesn’t mean that it has to be ephemeral. Rooms are automatically recorded, and once the room has closed, hosts can use Callin’s editing tools to edit and publish their episode.
4. Discover & Share: Callin’s interactive playback allows listeners to experience a recorded room as it looked when it was live. This asynchronous mode means that users can consume content on their own schedule, and creators can build a library. Additional features like highlights allow the audience to clip and share their favorite content.

“The transition between listener and creator is effortless,” said Axel Ericsson, co-founder and CTO of Callin. “Callin gives users one platform where they can find their favorite content and easily start creating their own. We have already seen creators launch high-quality shows on the app during our private beta, and we’re excited to launch Callin publicly.”

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