, announced the initial closing of its Series C funding round of that was just shy of $10 million.
“We have achieved an incredible amount in a very short time frame,” Audio Up’s Gutstadt said in a prepared statement. “Having our business organized around a small group of elite media companies and entertainment luminaries allows us to grow in a way few can match.” Audio Up also will use the funding for intellectual-property acquisitions to grow its content slate, which has generated more than 40 million podcast downloads and nearly 100 million music streams across 30-plus podcasts released in the past two years alone. The company recently announced a deal with Harlequin to produce podcast adaptations based on 52 books from the romance publisher’s catalog.