Boulder’s Auddia files for IPO

BOULDER — Auddia Inc., a company developing a subscription model for live radio, has filed for an initial public offering valued as high as $6 million.

The Boulder company plans to register 1,200,000 shares under the ticker symbol AUDD, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday afternoon. The set maximum value at $6 million means the company’s stock can debut as high as $5 per share.

The filings indicate that the company would register on the Nasdaq Global Market, but does not have a debut date.

Auddia’s smartphone apps use artificial intelligence to play music over a radio station’s commercial break time in exchange for a monthly subscription fee from listeners. Its technology is already implemented as a beta program within local radio station streaming apps.

Founded in 2012, Auddia believes it can capture some of the estimated $11.2 billion in subscription revenue generated in 2018 by ad-free streaming services made by Spotify Technology SA (NYSE: SPOT), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: APPL) or Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: SIRI) and redirect it to ad-supported radio.

‘We believe that virtually none… of monthly subscription revenue went to existing commercial radio broadcasters,” it said in its filing.

The company is planning to bring a standalone app to Apple’s App Store, Google’s Play Store and other outlets in early 2020. The prospectus also describes a forthcoming app called “Vodacast” that serves videos over ad breaks in podcasts.

Auddia is incorporated as Clip Interactive LLC but will convert to Auddia Inc. before it debuts on a public market, according to its prospectus.

CEO Michael Lawless did not respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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