Over the years, podcasts have become the ultimate ‘place to be’ if anyone wants to be heard globally or share their stories.

All of that wouldn’t be possible without two Swedish digital experts Karl Rosander and Måns Ulvestam and their viral idea to sophisticate the field of audio content. After realizing that podcasts at that point were just an unprofitable, amateur, and unattractive medium, they were triggered to create a change and implement a different approach to the world of audio. Acast was the revolutionary product that changed podcasts forever!

Acast is a powerful podcast platform designed to support every story that needs to be said aloud, develop a closer relationship between brilliant podcasters, and offer great possibilities for smart advertisers.

But, the road of the Swedish guys was not always straight. Dive deep into their journey and find out how they managed to build such a strong company!

Karl’s Background

Karl Rosander, a talented, gifted, and goal-oriented entrepreneur, was born in Västergötland in 1971. His hometown is a small province in Sweden, located in the southwest region of the country. Karl was born and raised by his humble parents who tried to afford everything possible for their son to become a good person. From teaching him about morals and values in life to explaining to him the potential hardships of life, Karl’s parents devoted themselves to properly educating their son.

They wanted Karl to understand that if he wants to succeed in any kind of field in life, he has to work extremely hard, use his talent, and fight for what he loves, channeling all of his energy into it until it is done.

Growing up with this kind of atmosphere, Karl was hungry for success and full of optimism for his future. Even when he was in elementary school, he started to show his creativity and leadership in classes. Karl was a born leader.

Also, he was very intrigued by computers and technological advances, so bringing home versatile books from the school library dedicated to new tech was not a surprise for Karl’s parents. In such a short time, the young guy became a tech-lover.

Karl continued his education at the local high school called Västerhöjds. However, his parents were aware that he needed to leave their hometown, and move to more urban Swedish cities to seek a greater experience in developing himself as a person, and also finding a proper job for a brighter future! That led to the next chapter of Karl’s life - moving to Stockholm!

Brainstorming Period

All of the struggles Karl had when he started to live in the capital, turned out to be the crucial step to his successful career. Leaving his hometown, family, and friends and going into a new environment, not knowing anybody was not an easy task that he needed to deal with. Although Karl knew that it would be tough, he wanted to start fresh and was determined to put his leadership skills to good use. So he decided to pursue a career in entrepreneurship and business.

Following his instinct and his initial skills, Karl decided to take different types of courses that would help him develop his talent for creation, design, leadership, technology, etc. He was a very dedicated person, who came to Stockholm with many ideas on how to accomplish his goals and turn his childhood passion into a lifestyle.

Karl’s mindset for success was so strong, thus he followed every kind of seminar in town. He intended to get to know as many important people in the field of technology as he could, learn more about entrepreneurship, and bring himself closer to the circle of experienced businesses.

Shortly, that was the case with his new work position in Zoovillage.com, an e-commerce company in which Karl was working as a business developer and creative director.

There, he met Måns - a homeboy in the digital industry, with a passion for technology and business, just like Karl.

Quickly the two of them became very close friends, realizing they share the same life passion - to become successful businessmen.

The smart duo started brainstorming ideas on how to fulfill their intentions, and there was only one reasonable answer for them - to join forces and create a startup that will embody their competitive spirit and entrepreneurial skills!

An Idea Was Born

As the years were passing by, Karl and Måns were working in several communication services and gained a lot of extra entrepreneurial experience. The desire to begin fresh with a new startup was present more than ever. All they needed was to find the right field to narrow their goals.

After a deep dive into the market, the duo concluded that the audio content industry was very amateur and unprofitable. In 2013, according to some research they did, podcasts were starting to gain more traction.

The industry was starting to grow but the technological part was very poor and far from contemporary. Here’s where the two friends saw the potential and the possibility to jump in and use their technical knowledge to make a difference. And thus, the idea for Acast was born!

The Lovable Platform

Karl and Måns have spent more than 10 months in a basement, which was their main office at that point, to build their technology platform for Acast. After many sleepless nights, the tech-duo had the product and the name, they only needed to get Acast.com up and running. They struggled to find the right person to create an engaging website for them, but finally, one Korean IT expert agreed to develop it for 10 thousand dollars. Karl and Måns did not have that amount of money, so they tried to negotiate. It took some time, but in the end, the young entrepreneurs paid 4 thousand dollars, and it was worth every cent of it.

Acast was officially launched in April 2014 in Stockholm!

Utilizing the redesigned technological advances and implementing them on their server Acast quickly became the platform that everybody wanted to visit. And with the addition of one of the most wanted podcast episodes at that time - Serial, Acast was set for success! Acast is a modern and unique place for creators to post their gorgeous work and interesting stories, where faithful fans could track their effort and listen to every piece of an episode.

The beauty of Acast is in the details, and that set the bar for how a great podcast should look like. The company is a bridge between super talented audio makers and their financial support.

Since its foundation, the platform has grown into a marketplace that is data-driven for all creative people willing to express their opinion, and share personal, informative, educational stories, etc.

Also, the contemporary design of Acast has space for advertisers too, a creative mindset for positive energy, making a change in the way audio content is perceived.

Acast Today

Over the years, the famous podcast platform has expanded in many other European and American cities, including London, New York, Los Angeles, and approximately 10 more while the main offices are still in Stockholm.

Today the company has more than 300 employees. It has reached over $100 million in revenue for the creators and hosts, has more than 30,000 podcasts, with over 300 million listeners on a monthly level.

Acast has 10 investors, and until now the company has raised a total funding amount of $126,2 million, over 9 funding rounds. Alfven & Didrikson, and MOOR are the most recent investors. Additionally, the platform has acquired two companies, Pippa and RadioPublic. Karl and Måns not only became successful entrepreneurs, but they managed to develop a company that became the leader in the audio content industry. Today, Acast is the largest podcast platform globally!

Turns out, Karl’s parents were right - combining talent with hard work, and fighting for what you love makes dreams come true!