Podz

Podz is a podcast discovery company that developed an audio newsfeed for finding and consuming podcast content. It uses proprietary machine learning technology trained on more than 100,000 hours of audio to automatically identify the most compelling 60-second segments of podcast episodes. These clips are transformed into a personalized, scrollable feed of animated highlights that resembles a social media experience rather than traditional podcast browsing.

The company was founded in 2019 and was based in New York City, serving podcast listeners seeking an easier way to discover new shows without committing to full-length episodes. It also served podcasters and networks by providing a mechanism to surface their best content to potential new audiences. Podz positioned its product as an "infinite playlist" bridging the gap between long-form audio and short-form social media consumption habits.

Podz was backed by investors including Canaan Partners, M13, and individual backers such as Katie Couric and Paris Hilton. In June 2021, Spotify acquired Podz, incorporating its clip-generation and discovery technology into its own podcast platform. The original Podz product and company are no longer independently active following the acquisition.