August 28, 2020 Press

Lemonada Media Expansion Culminates in Partnership With Stitcher

After a round of lucrative funding and staff growth, the podcast network enters a pivotal partnership with Stitcher’s Midroll, the industry’s leading ad network

Lemonada Media has entered a partnership with Stitcher’s Midroll, the world’s largest podcast advertising network, to join its integrated platform. This strategic move aligns the year-old Lemonada with Stitcher’s many other titles, which are collectively downloaded more than 150M times a month. It also opens up Lemonada’s slate of nine-plus podcast series to more than 800 brands aiming to connect Lemonada’s high-quality content to diverse, engaged audiences of active consumers across the U.S. and beyond.
  
“We’re thrilled to partner with the team at Lemonada,” says Natalie Mooallem, VP of Business Development at Stitcher. “The strength of their slate is in the thoughtfulness and optimism that goes into each show. Listeners know they’re in good hands. The demand is there for content that promotes intimacy, empathy, and fortitude—and we’re proud to bring these shows to market.”
  
The move comes as Lemonada’s roster continues to expand with voicier content that elevates its “Humanity. Unfiltered.” tagline. The women-owned-and-run podcast network is currently experiencing outsize growth thanks in part to a slate of series expressly produced to tap into the zeitgeist. 

  • The Untold Story: Policing,” hosted by actor Jay Ellis (Insecure, Mrs. America) and executive-produced by Lemonada and Campaign Zero activist DeRay Mckesson, takes a critical look at law-enforcement reform. 
  • In the Bubble,” hosted by Obama healthcare guru Andy Slavitt, addresses life during a pandemic.
  • In Recovery,” hosted by physician-educator Dr. Nzinga Harrison examines addictions of all kinds in a non-judgmental, traditional chat format.
  • The upcoming “Our America” (debuts Sept. 10), hosted by former presidential candidate Julián Castro, investigates ways to help disadvantaged Americans. 

Meanwhile, the company’s flagship series, “Last Day” (the No. 1 global-trending podcast in February 2020) returns in October for a second season, which will focus on suicide. And “Good Kids,” one of the top parenting podcasts, returns in September with even more voices—notably those belonging to young people who are stepping up to make the world a better place.
  
“We launched Lemonada with one mission: to create podcasts that help people get out of bed in the morning. Our content was already designed to read the room. Nationally and globally, the ‘room’ is struggling,” says Lemonada co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jessica Cordova Kramer. “In some ways, after making ‘Last Day’ as a response to losing our brothers to opioid addiction, we were made for this moment of collective angst.”
  
The company’s ambitions are backed by $1.38M in seed funding as well as two new hires. VP of Operations & Finance Jennifer Brandon, a Harvard MBA, comes with decades of management experience at giants like McGraw-Hill and Teach For America. And VP of Marketing & Growth Nisha Gopalan was previously an advertising creative strategist and marketing director. Both come with impressive resumes, industry expertise, out-of-the-box solutions, and a track-record of growing businesses. Lemonada is actively searching for its first head of podcasts, someone with deep industry production and creative experience to join its founding executive team.
  
“When we first conceived of Lemonada, our goal was to have six original shows by the end of 2020. As we gear up to launch our ninth show—in the middle of a global pandemic—it’s safe to say we’ve expanded our audience and content beyond our own expectations,” says co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Stephanie Wittels Wachs, who also serves as the host of “Last Day.” “And Lemonada will be announcing several new podcast series in the coming months, including continued expansion outside the U.S. Look out for those.”

CONTACT:
Nisha Gopalan
VP of Marketing & Growth
nisha@lemonadamedia.com
(347) 587-9039

ABOUT LEMONADA MEDIA:
Lemonada is a podcast network founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs. The company’s podcasts share an unfiltered version of the human experience that, in a time of increasing polarization, is a place where people come together. Lemonada provides a robust advertising platform, one that is nonpartisan and deeply engaging, with uniquely amiable host-read ads. Lemonada is represented by Oren Rosenbaum at UTA.
 

LEMONADA IN THE PRESS:
 Houston Chronicle | “Making Lemonada Out of Lemons
 Inside Radio | “Podcast Power Players
 Bello Collective | “8 Podcasts That Help You Talk to Kids About Race
 CNBC | “What Biden Could Do on Day 1 to Fight the Pandemic

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