Radio tech company Clip Interactive expands Boulder home base, while partnering internationally

by Christine Schmidt
August 18, 2014

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Sometimes, the next innovation can be as close as the radio right in front of you in the car.

That’s how it was for Clip Interactive founder Jeff Thramann, who created a new way for listeners, terrestrial radio stations (aka non-satellite, Internet stations) and the music and advertising industries to work together. Now, Clip Interactive is taking that solution global, with plans to expand both at its headquarters in Colorado and by partnering with Italian radio holding company Sphera Holding.

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Thramann was driving in his car when an advertisement for a show he wanted to take his daughter to came on the radio in 2012. He didn’t write the information down and later forgot about it—but this was the start of Clip, a technology that allows a user’s smartphone to grab the audio from broadcast radio and store it in the app. A user can clip anything from songs to commercials to station contests, allowing Clip to work on behalf of both the listener and the advertiser.

“With the advent of the Internet and mobile technologies, radio, a once dominant media channel, lost advertising share to these emerging channels,” Lawless said. “Clip allows over-the-air broadcast radio to function as a digital media channel, specifically enabling mobile consumers to interact with content that is played on broadcast radio.”

Since introducing the technology, Clip has quickly grown to cover six markets and is still expanding. The company has developed 23 standalone apps for the markets, in addition to building the Clip app itself. In the past three months, Clip has announced two new partnerships in Portland and Indianapolis and the expansion of a third—not to mention the latest collaboration with Sphera, which manages radio stations in northeast Italy.

“The continuing importance of radio and the value of interactivity in the global market cannot be underestimated,” Bill Freund, chief revenue officer at Clip Interactive, said. “Around the world, terrestrial radio is utilized to broadcast new music, sports, news and more, but like many stations in the U.S., international radio stations are struggling to engage with their listeners beyond just listening.”

The apps for Sphera’s stations will be rolled out starting in the fall, but Clip is also focused on growing the 30-person team in Boulder.

“Boulder is a tremendous community for entrepreneurs and startups. Not only is it a great place to live, but it has a deep pool of talent needed for startups including developers, designers, marketers, management and more,” Lawless said. “Although we are working in a variety of markets access the US and expanding internationally, I could not think of a better place to live and run a business.”

Jobs at Clip Interactive

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