# Spoon Radio Financial Model Mobile app for real-time personal audio live-broadcasting, enabling anyone to DJ/broadcast to small intimate audiences. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/spoon-radio - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/spoon-radio.xlsx - Category: Media/Gaming - Model type: Marketplace / GMV - Funding round: Venture - Funding: $60M - Founded: 2021 - Geography: South Korea (HQ), Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, MENA [DECK sl.14]. - Customer: B2C ## About the company Spoon Radio is a real-time, audio-only live-broadcast app where DJs host small audiences and listeners send virtual gifts. Its low-bandwidth, anonymous format is intended to lower the barrier to creation and suit multitasking, with activity occurring between 9pm and 2am. Listeners buy virtual currency called Spoons in several denominations and give it to broadcasters during live sessions. Spoon Radio shares that revenue with DJs, though the split is undisclosed. This makes monetisation a virtual-goods marketplace driven by listener engagement, creator supply, paying behaviour, and creator payouts rather than advertising. MAU grew from 600,000 in June 2018 to two million in September 2019, while monthly revenue rose from $1 million to $4 million. The platform had 200,000 monthly live creators, 60,000 daily broadcasts, and 9,000 revenue-generating creators. The model should forecast MAU, conversion, Spoons spend, revenue share, hosting, and creator incentives. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Real-time audio-only live broadcast app ("SPOON"). - Broadcasters ("DJs" / "Spoonerss") stream voice; listeners tune in live to small audiences (avg 15 listeners/broadcast). - Audio-only differentiators vs. video live-streaming: no explicit content risk (safe community), very low bandwidth, multitasking-friendly. - Anonymous audio lowers barrier to creating - 10% of listeners become creators vs. ~2% on YouTube. - Content mix: daily life, communication, humor, music, fan, love. - Primary usage: 9pm–2am late-night/dawn. ## Revenue model - Virtual currency ("Spoons") purchased by listeners. - Listeners send virtual gifts (denominations: 10 / 50 / 100 / 500 / 1,000 / 3,000 Spoons) to DJs during live broadcasts. - Revenue is shared between SPOON RADIO (platform) and DJs. - 7-day refund window on Spoon purchases. - Split ratio between platform and creator not disclosed in deck. ## Traction & metrics - Monthly Active Users: 600K (Jun-18) → 2M (Sep-19) = **3× growth in ~15 months**. - Monthly Revenue: $1M (Jun-18) → $4M (Sep-19) = **4× growth in ~15 months**. - Monthly MAU by market (Aug-19 latest): Global 2,027,833 | KR 552,144 | JP 505,054 | ID 343,341 | VN 438,663 | MENA 190,631. - Monthly LIVE Broadcast Creators: 200,000. - Average Daily LIVE Broadcasts: 60,000 times. - Average audience per broadcast: 15 listeners. - Monthly revenue-generating creators: 9,000. - Top creator monthly earnings: $120,000. - Creator-to-listener conversion rate: 10%. - Implied ARPU (monthly, Sep-19): $4M / 2M MAU = **$2.00/MAU**. - Implied revenue per paying creator: $4M / 9,000 = ~$444/creator/month. ## Unit economics - Implied monetization rate (paying creators / total monthly creators): 9,000 / 200,000 = **4.5%**. ## Competition / moat - Positioned as "totally new kind of media" distinct from video live-streaming. - Key differentiators: real-time interaction, small intimate audiences (~15 listeners), direct creator-listener relationships. - Audio-only lowers bandwidth cost and content moderation risk vs. video platforms. - High creator conversion rate (10% vs YouTube 2%) cited as structural moat. - No named competitors shown in deck. ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - CEO: Hyuk-Jae Choi - ex-LG Electronics senior researcher, Google Nexus 5 development team. - COO: Hyuk-Jun Choi - ex-DAECHANG strategic planning. - CSO: Hee-Jae Lee - ex-ER PLUS Promotion PD; Yeosu World Expo, Hyundai GMC Dubai. - Established 2013; 92 employees. - Offices: Seoul (HQ), Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh, Tokyo. - Prior investors: Altos Ventures, Goodwater, KB Investment, SoftBank Ventures Korea, 500 Startups. - Series A: $17M (July 2018). ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** Consumer marketplace / creator-economy virtual-gift model. Best modeled as a **GMV/take-rate model** (gross Spoon purchase value → platform take → creator payout → net revenue), layered onto a **MAU cohort funnel** (MAU → listener → paying listener → creator → paying creator). Analogous to live-streaming platforms (YY, Bigo Live). A 3-statement operating model with monthly granularity is appropriate given rapid multi-market expansion. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** Monthly for Years 1–2 (operational detail), quarterly for Years 3–5. Five-year horizon appropriate for Series B deck context. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** - MAU by market (KR, JP, ID, VN, MENA, Other): Aug-19 actuals as base; market-level MoM growth rates (KR maturing ~0–2%/mo, JP/ID/VN accelerating ~5–8%/mo, MENA ~3–5%/mo) - Creator conversion rate: 10% of MAU become creators - Paying creator rate: 9,000 / 200,000 = 4.5% of creators monetize - Average revenue per paying creator/month: ~$444 implied; may grow modestly as platform matures - Platform take rate (% of Spoon GMV retained): 30–50% is typical for virtual-gift platforms (e.g., YY retains ~30–35%); creator receives 50–70% - Creator payout ratio: 50–70% of GMV paid to creators; exact split not disclosed - key model input to sensitize - Average broadcasts/creator/day: 60,000 daily broadcasts / 200,000 creators = 0.3 broadcasts per creator per day - Average audience/broadcast: 15 listeners - Headcount growth: scale from 92 employees proportionally to MAU/revenue growth; R&D, S&M, G&A split to be assumed - COGS (server/CDN): ~10–15% of net revenue for audio-only (lower than video) - S&M as % of revenue: 20–30% given multi-market expansion phase - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear):** - Base: MAU grows at observed trajectory to ~4–5M by end of Year 2; take rate 35%; paying creator rate stable - Bull: JP and MENA accelerate; MAU reaches 8M; new revenue streams (subscriptions, advertising) layered in - Bear: KR market continues declining; international expansion stalls; paying creator rate compresses to 3% - Key flex variables: market-level MAU growth rates, platform take rate, paying creator conversion rate, COGS/CDN - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. Assumptions - all drivers with Base/Bull/Bear toggles 2. MAU Build - by market, monthly, with creator/paying-creator funnel 3. Revenue - GMV → platform take → net revenue by market 4. Creator P&L - creator payout as cost of revenue 5. P&L (Income Statement) - net revenue, COGS, gross profit, S&M, R&D, G&A, EBITDA 6. Headcount plan 7. Cash flow & runway (given active fundraise) 8. KPI dashboard - MAU, revenue, ARPU, paying creator rate, take rate ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Spoon Radio financial model free? Yes. The Spoon Radio model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.