Grace Ashiru
Teraki, an Ethiopian audiobook and podcast startup, has received funding from Renew Capital, an Africa-focused impact investing firm.
The deal, which was done recently for an amount that is not known, is suitable for both Teraki and Ethiopia’s growing audiobook and podcast community.
Teraki and Ethiopia’s booming audiobook and podcast community benefit from the sale, completed for an undisclosed fee.Nahom Tsegaye, who started Teraki, said that the new money will be used to grow and expand and that the company may enter another African market by 2024.
We are delighted to have the support, and this is a big step forward for Terak,” Nahom said.
Teraki is an Amharic word that means “The Narrator.” It is the name of a program that makes, plays, and spreads unique audio content from Ethiopia.
In 2019, Nahom Tsegaye and Abel Engida put up $2,000 to start the firm. Teraki used these funds to hire voice actors and actors from Ethiopia to record narrations for some of their country’s best-known books.
Teraki’s producers believe that instructive and entertaining Ethiopian audio content is being eclipsed on foreign streaming platforms.
When the creators launched Teraki in June 2021, they revealed to Shega that users had difficulty finding material, while content producers had difficulty advertising their work.
Teraki was designed to bridge the gap between listeners and creators after discovering the gap.
In November, the platform had about 38,000 users who listened to everything from tech, entrepreneurship, relationships, spirituality, and current events podcasts to novels, self-help books, and children’s books.
“Our generation is extremely reliant on technology, and Ethiopian young is increasingly adopting Teraki to comprehend various current situations and define our role in the world,” Nahom added.
Co-founder Abel Engida said, “The youth don’t have that connection with their elders and those storytellers.”Renew Capital has offices in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Kenya; it helps new businesses with a lot of growth potential.
A few of the Ethioppanies in which Renew Investments has invested are Deliver Addis, a leader in food delivery and logistics, Desta Plc, which makes textiles and clothing; and Mama Fresh Injera, which makes and sells fresh-baked injera and exports it.
