Indonesia’s multi-vertical audio platform NOICE raised US $22 M in Series A round

NOICE, a multi-vertical audio platform for Indonesian listeners, has raised $22 million in a Series A fundraising round headed by Northstar Group, with current investors Alpha JWC, Go-Ventures, and Kinesys also participating.

“We will use the funds to grow our audio content creators’ community, advance the tech platform, and double down our efforts in developing audio series. We aim to surface Indonesia’s best stories from the local writers/storyteller’s community and adapt them into an audio format. We’ve piloted this new format and found very promising engagement and retention results,” said NOICE CEO Rado Ardian.

This financing comes only weeks after RANS Entertainment, a prominent content firm formed by celebrity couple Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina, made a significant investment.

NOICE, a radio streaming network that launched in June 2018, provides local audio content to registered users across Indonesia, including radio, music, audiobooks, and podcasts. NOICE is backed by Mahaka Media Group, a corporation founded by Erick Thohir, the country’s minister of state-owned enterprises.

NOICE distinguishes itself from worldwide competitor Spotify by offering hyperlocal in-house content. It focuses on developing and curating local audio content across several audio verticals, with over 40,000 pieces of material available.

To create unique audio drama series, the business collaborates closely with the local writing community.

NOICE now has over two million users and claims to have expanded by more than fourfold in the last year, with listeners spending an average of 80 minutes each day on the site.

The audio platform also offers an end-to-end creator development programme that helps artists at every stage of their careers. It also contains a proprietary audio production SaaS platform that allows content producers to construct and distribute directly on NOICE.

“Users and creators are always our top priority. We want users to have NOICE as their daily companion app through various content lineups ranging from new aspiring creators and hyperlocal talents to mega influencers. While on the creators’ side, we want to invest in building Noicemaker Studio, our recently launched creator-focused platform where creators can grow their show and unlock the potential creator-driven monetization,” Rado added.