Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast company, announced a massive boost to its US leadership team and Advisory Board. The news comes on the heels of Acast’s second quarter earnings results, which posted 31% net sales growth in North America. The regional success and now team growth underlines Acast’s continued commitment to the valuable US podcasting market.

In an expansion of its C-suite, Acast has selected Greg Glenday, a 25 year veteran of the media industry, as Chief Business Officer for the global organization. Glenday is the former CEO at Lightbox Video Network, the leading digital out-of-home video network. In this role, he led an aggressive transformation that included a complete rebrand, tech innovation, record revenue, and ultimately an acquisition.

Prior to Lighbox, Glendale spend more than two decades working in various leadership roles across media, with a focus on audio, including Global Chief Revenue Officer for Shazam, the beloved music app acquired by Apple; the same role for digital high impact ad network, Undertone; and founder and President of iHeartMedia’s award winning Connections division, focused on strategic creative partnerships with the largest brands in the world. In this new role with Acast, Glendale will lead the business’s global revenue and strategic growth in key markets.

“I am a fervent believer in podcasting, and I’m convinced many still underestimate the potential for the space. Changes to media spend always lag behind consumption and attention, and smart brands value both context and relevance in addition to adtech efficiencies. Acast is the undisputed leader in first-to-market innovations, audience targeting solutions, and creative campaigns. We are the best place for brands to participate in the conversations shaping ever piece of global culture, at scale – which is the goal of every marketer in the world,” said Greg Glenday, Chief Business Office at Acast.

“Already in my role I have found that in every corner of the globe there are ambitious, creative, talented Casters making their mark on the industry. That culture is exactly why Acast is the perfect destination for this step in my career. I’m looking forward to working with both podcast creators and marketers to unlock more value from the art of storytelling.”

Acast has also tapped Spotify’s Ricardo Neto as Vice President of Sales in the US. Neto will oversee the region’s sales divisions. Neto joins the Acast team with nearly twenty tears of experience across music, internet publishing, and online audio and video media. Most recently, he spent five years as the Director of Client Partnerships at Spotify where he was responsible for coaching the national sales team. In this role, Neto drove more than $100 million in revenue through partnerships with major retail brands including Walmart, The Home Depot, CVS, and many more.

In further growth of its US sales team, Acast has promoted Gabriella Gregoris to Group Business Director of National Performance where she oversees a team responsible for clients in the direct response category. Gregory’s has spent nearly seven years with Acast, experiencing a series of promotions through the sales team in that time and has demonstrated her expertise in performance marketing.

Leading the US team through these changes is Tiffany Ashitey, who has been elevated from Acast Creator Network Director to Interim US Managing Director. In her nearly three years with Acast, Ashitey has played an intrigue role in major talent and industry partnership signings including comedian Marc Maron, actress Anna Faris, and President Barack and Mrs. Michelle Obama’s media company Higher Ground.

In addition to these internal leadership changes, Acast has also named Stephen Smyk to its Advisory Board in the US. Smyk joins the board with over two decades of performance marketing experiences. He spent more than 16 years as the CEO of Performance Bridge, until it was acquired by Veritone One where he remained a key part of the leadership team for more than five years.

“The US remains a key market for Acast’s continued dominance in the global podcasting industry. This evolution of our team is a pivotal part in this next chapter for the Acast brand and will play a key role in our path to profitability,” said Acast CEO Ross Adams.

Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast platform, announced the launch of AdCollab, which enables podcast hosts and potential advertisers to collaborate in real-time to create host-read sponsorships. The new product simplifies the podcast host-read sponsorship buying process for podcasters, advertisers, and sales teams alike, while driving scale and efficiency in host-read advertising.

Advertisers can use AdCollab to easily work with multiple podcasters from around the Acast Creator Network simultaneously, maximizing their reach and impact. This enables advertisers to directly connect with the biggest titles in podcasting globally, including WTF with Marc Maron; Shagged, Married, Annoyed; The Higher Ground Network, and more.

For podcasters, AdCollab greatly reduces the amount of back and forth with sales teams and advertisers, allowing them to focus their time on creating great content that grows their listenership, and revenue.

“Empowering podcasters to create, and to earn money from that craft is a laser focus for us at Acast” said Richard Jenkins, Product Manager at Acast. “However, the process of crafting sponsorship reads has often been time-consuming and limited in scalability. We’ve developed a product to streamline the collaboration between podcasters and advertisers, while ensuring we maintain authentic and engaging ad experiences for listeners. It’s increasing efficiency, creativity, and ultimately revenue potential for content creators and brands alike.”

Since April, Acast has been beta testing AdCollab with podcasters and advertisers throughout the US, UK, and Sweden. Early results of this testing showed improved efficiency in booking campaigns and a simplified podcast sponsorship buying process. In fact, these initial tests, time to book a host-read campaign was reduced by more than 85%.

“Host-read ads have been a part of Pantsuit Politics since the very beginning and it’s become a fixture of the content that the audience expects as a way to learn more about the products and services that hosts Sarah Holland and Beth Silvers recommend. But the admin for one sponsorship previously took away valuable time from actually making the podcast,” said Maggie Penton, Community Manager for the Pantsuit Politics podcast.

“Now, with AdCollab’s streamlined process, we not only have more time to focus on Pantsuit Politics, but we also have the ability to work with more brands that listeners will love and that will increase the show’s monetization potential – which we also love.”

The news of AdCollab comes on the heels of Acast’s recent launch of sponsorships on its self-serve advertising platform. As macro economic challenges persist and media buyers are under greater pressure than ever before to deliver efficient, scaleable buys that deliver the highest possible returns, Acast continues to innovate and develop products that address these needs and creates seamless buying routes.

In parallel, as Goldman Sachs anticipates that the global creator community is poised to near half a trillion dollars in value by 2027, Acast’s innovations create more opportunities for more podcasters to earn money from their craft. In fact, since launching in 2024, Acast has paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars directly into the pockets of its creators.

“The podcast industry was built on host-read sponsorships and at Acast, we have spent the past decade creating tools that simultaneously enable podcasters to profit from their craft and brands to increase their ROI through this advertising format, all while providing a seamless experience for listeners. AdCollab is indicative of that evolution and Acast’s vision for the long tail of podcast monetization and campaign performance,” said Acast Chief Product Officer Matt Macdonald.