Sonoro (https://sonoromedia.com/)

HQ: Los Angeles and Mexico City

The team: Josh Weinstein, Geronimo Avila (Co-Founders)

The problem:

Spanish is the second most-spoken language in the world, and there are more than 500 million Spanish speakers globally, with 40 million in the United States alone. Hispanics are the most rapidly growing segment of podcast listeners in the US. Yet as the demand for content surges, there are few players creating unique, high-quality Spanish-language podcasts.

Meet Sonoro:

Sonoro creates and distributes high-quality Spanish-language audio content, with a wide range of podcast categories, like sports, movies, self-help, horoscopes, and storytelling. Sonoro leverages listener analytics to strategically plan their content production and marketing. They are leveraging their Mexico City HQ to create content with lower production costs.  

Why we’re betting on it:  

Sonoro is tapping into a huge and underserved market, especially when the demand for podcasts is at an all-time-high. Co-founders Josh Weinstein and Geronimo Avila intimately understand the market, with experience working for brands like Walt Disney, Spotify, LA Times, and more. They have just the right professional network needed to build the right strategic distribution partnerships and become the partner of choice for Spanish-speaking storytellers. In a media landscape where people are increasingly unwilling to pay for content, we see a clear exit opportunity: podcasts are the exception. Spotify acquired The Ringer podcasts for just under $200 million and bought Gimlet media for a similar sum. The New York Times recently acquired the Serial podcasts for an estimated $50 million. It’s a market for the taking!

Our take:

There’s a huge opportunity to build a brand around Spanish-language digital audio. But the key to Sonoro’s success will ultimately fall on engaging, popular content that drives a loyal audience base.