Why do PR and marketing companies need a podcast analysis tool? Interview with Hintech co-founder

Hintech provides a comprehensive podcast analysis tool that is aimed to help PR and marketing agencies find the right podcasters for marketing campaigns. A few weeks ago, the startup closed a fresh $230,000 (1 million zł) investment round from SpeedUp Bridge Alfa to further develop its software. AIN.Capital talked to Wojciech Gilewski, co-founder and CEO of Hintech, about the idea behind the startup and pain points its product addresses.

What is the idea behind Hintech? How did you come up with it?

We started with a YouTube monitoring tool. We were offering the YouTube monitoring tool to Internet monitoring companies such as B24, Mention, etc. Unfortunately, their feedback was bad. They said there is no need for such a tool, and they have all necessary data from movie descriptions. After a validation process, we decided to pivot into the podcasts world.

Why podcasts?

According to Grand View Research, the podcast market in the United States will grow at a rate exceeding 27% per year until 2028. This opens up an enormous marketing opportunity for companies that want to raise their target audience’s awareness, as well as for creators who can benefit from such collaboration and expand their activities.

What pain points in the “podcast world” does the startup solve?

During talks about YouTube, we hear that podcasts are more difficult to analyze. The podcast market is divided into many platforms. There is no one platform that concludes all the data. That’s why preparing marketing campaigns with podcasters is very time-consuming.

According to Nielsen’s Podcasting Today research, the number of podcast titles and episodes has nearly doubled in the last two years (2 million and 92 million, respectively), with over half of daily podcast audiences listening more and more frequently, increasing the potential of recipients’ reach.

As Hintech found out, to find the right podcasters for marketing collaboration, marketers can spend up to two days researching different channels and preparing marketing analytics for each one. The startup’s podcast analysis tool allows PR and marketing agencies to optimize the time they spend on research, as well as the time their clients will offer campaign solutions to their clients.

Tell us please a bit more about the products of Hintech. How do they work?

Currently, we provide two products — our search engine and monitoring tool. In a few weeks, we are going to launch Hintech PRO.

The PRO version will be released with statistics on the number of podcast auditions, marketing potential (the so-called Influence Score), ratings, statistics, and comments. Those who are interested in the company’s solution can already sign up for a waiting list.

Who are your target market and customers? How many clients Hintech has already acquired?

We are targeting PR and marketing companies, monitoring companies, and media houses.

What is the business model of Hintech? How do you monetize the service?

Hintech PRO will be available as a SaaS.

Does Hintech have a community standards policy? Does the startup somehow check the quality of information the podcasts provide?

That can be a use-case for our customers. As a Hintech we haven’t done it yet.  🙂

What will you spend the fresh proceeds on? What are your future plans?

Mostly on the product (research and development) and sales.