Israeli audiobook firm iCast bought by Storytel for NIS 20m.
Storytel's acquisition of iCast is part of the firm's move to enter the Israeli market, with its Israeli launch currently slated for the first quarter of 2021.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA businessperson working at his computer (Illustrative)(photo credit: PIXNIO)
International audiobook and e-book streaming firm Global Storytel AB announced its acquisition of Israeli audiobook company iCast for approximately NIS 20 million, Globes reported Tuesday.Starting out as a podcast platform in 2006, iCast made the jump into audiobooks in 2010, forming deals with Israeli publishers before launching its audiobook service in 2011. At the time of writing, the platform boasts a catalog of over 2,500 different titles in Hebrew. These include classics translated into Hebrew – such as The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald – as well as works by Israeli authors, such as Meir Shalev, Amos Oz and David Grossman, and nonfiction works such as Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.Storytel's acquisition of iCast is part of the firm's move to enter the Israeli market, with its Israeli launch currently slated for the first quarter of 2021. As part of the acquisition, ICast founder and CEO Moti Lipman has been given the post of Storytel country manager Israel."I’m very proud and thankful for the iCast team’s dedication and devotion that has created both an audiobook market in Israel and a business that shows profit for the third year in a row," Lipman said in a statement, according to Globes."Storytel’s unique global experience, scale and technical capability undoubtedly create the prerequisites to take the Israeli audiobook market to the next level regarding user experience, content development, production and marketing, making the audiobook relevant to even more consumer groups on the Israeli market. It is going to be an exciting journey that we can’t wait to start.""We are excited to take Storytel to the tech-savvy Israeli consumer market with its rich storytelling traditions, confidence in digital products and payment solutions, and high degree of social interactivity both online and offline," Storytel founder and CEO Jonas Tellander explained, according to Globes."The combination of iCast’s unique local expertise and Storytel’s proven commitment to investing in user-friendly technology, content and unmatched accessibility to popular stories is a strong combination. And it certainly implies large growth potential and an awesome new chapter for the Israeli story lovers and the audiobook."
