Minneapolis-based Lemonada Media Finds an Overseas Buyer
Since Lemonada Media was founded in 2019, the Minneapolis-based podcast production company has gone on to make shows with the likes of comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus and British royal family member Meghan Markle. Now, the company is set to be acquired by an overseas podcast investment group.
On Tuesday, Stockholm-based PodX Group announced that it has reached a deal to acquire a majority stake in Lemonada.
PodX has purchased other podcasting groups based in Mexico, France, Argentina, and elsewhere, but the Lemonada acquisition will mark its first entry into the U.S. market, according to a news release issued Tuesday.
The release didn’t disclose financial details of the deal, but Bloomberg reported that PodX will spend about $30 million on it. The move isn’t expected to result in any changes to Lemonada’s existing leadership and staff, per the news release. When the transaction officially closes, “Lemonada Media would continue to operate under its existing leadership, team, talent, partners and brand, while benefiting from PodX Group’s strategic support and international infrastructure,” the release stated.
Jessica Cordova Kramer, a Minneapolis resident who founded Lemonada with voice actress Stephanie Wittels Wachs in 2019, told Mpls.St.Paul Magazine in fall that the company has 11 staffers in Minneapolis.
Cordova Kramer and Wittels Wachs created their first podcast, Last Day, in the wake of the overdose deaths of both of their brothers. The company’s name is a nod to the idea of “making lemons out of lemonade.” One of Lemonada’s stated missions is to “make life suck less.”
“What began as a way for us to channel our own grief into something meaningful has grown into one of the biggest podcast networks in the U.S., and one that connects, heals, and entertains,” the duo said in the news release. “Joining the PodX network would mark an exciting new chapter in Lemonada’s story.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune recently partnered with Lemonada on a new podcast called Worth It.
