Autio on 'Shark Tank': Here's how you can enjoy a long drive with Kevin Costner
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In 'Shark Tank' Season 14, Episode 17, Woody Sears hopes for an investment in Autio, his narrative travel app. Before they make their TV debut on March 17, here's all you need to know about the founders and their products.
This week, ABC will telecast a new episode of 'Shark Tank' Season 14 featuring ambitious entrepreneurs. The format of the show is four business pitches every episode. Entrepreneurs present their concepts to a panel of Sharks/investors and seek funding in exchange for a negotiated proportion of equities. If any of the Sharks are interested, they will invest in the enterprise. The next episode of 'Shark Tank' Season 14 will premiere on ABC on Friday, March 17, 2023, at 8 pm ET. The episode will also be available on Hulu the following day. Scroll down to find out more about Autio.
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What is Autio?
The famous location-based storytelling app HearHere was relaunched as Autio, an audio experience that unveils the intriguing tales behind the most interesting sites in the United States, just in time for the summer travel season of 2022.
Autio was founded in August 2020 by Woody Sears, Bill Werlin, and award-winning actor, director, and producer Kevin Costner as HearHere, with just 1,500 stories concentrated on the West Coast. Nearly two years later, the app had been downloaded over 500,000 times and features over 9,000 stories from throughout the United States.
Subscriptions are available for iOS devices through The App Store; a free account offers access to only five tales, while an annual membership of $36 enables unrestricted access to all of them.
Autio, part tour guide, half mini-podcast, delivers a mix of entertaining information and deep dives in readily consumable audio segments that you can listen to while driving - geolocation allows it to see where you are and share tales about the areas you're driving through. If you won't be traveling for a long, the app may be used to inspire future journeys; simply click on the dots for the areas you'd want to learn more about.
Several Autio stories are presented by Costner and other celebrities, like actor John Lithgow, famous basketball coach Phil Jackson, and singer Chuck Leavell, while others are delivered by prominent historians and Indigenous leaders, providing educational insights as extra context for more complicated themes like the Wounded Knee massacre in South Dakota and the treatment of Japanese American soldiers during World War II.
Autio focuses on lesser-known locales and their histories, in addition to important landmarks and renowned national parks. Clicking through the app exposes a choice of stories spanning all 50 states on a wide range of subjects and interests. It's also gratifying to see that the app doesn't shy away from telling stories of some of America's worst events, notably those involving the country's Indigenous peoples.
Who are the founders of Autio?
Woody Sears, Bill Werlin, and Kevin Costner established "HearHere" in 2020. It was rebranded as Autio in June 2022.
Kevin Costner is one of the co-founders of this firm; he is also a producer and actor. He has won two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his work.
This company's co-founder and content developer is Bill Werlin. He was born in Colorado Mountain Territory and spent his childhood working in a ski resort with his family.
This company's co-founder and CEO is Woody Sears. He received his MBA from Pepperdine University. He has garnered several honors, including Innovation Awards, iKids Awards, and others.
It all began for Woody and Kevin when their children began playing together at school, prompting both sets of parents to meet and eventually become friends. Kevin's wife later urged him to learn more about Woody's app concept, since he enjoys stopping to study historical monuments while driving. The thought of delving into the histories of the locations you're visiting without being tethered to technology seemed very appealing.
"The app supports this kind of disconnect where you aren’t watching the clock anymore, you’re putting miles on there, you’re going places, and you have a chance to settle in and understand that there’s this gigantic history,” said Kevin. “There’s blood everywhere and there’s drama everywhere. There was loss as much as gain, and every inch [of land] was fought over. And you honor it when you know a little more about it."
Kevin related some of his early exploits, such as camping excursions to Yellowstone National Park and how, at the age of 18, a chance meeting with several fellow travelers led to an extraordinary summer working on commercial fishing boats in Alaska.
"What happens is the scales come off your eyes when you get off the beaten path or if you talk to strangers, to people from other places," Kevin explained. "And so the road is not dreary. It’s like watching nature. Sometimes, you don’t think it moves. If you’re there long enough, you see the movement. You get on the road, okay, it feels like a ways to go, but if you relax with it, the scales come off your eyes."
"The information is really few and far between for the places in between and the roads less traveled in more rural areas outside of national parks and on the way to them, so it just felt like there was so much great content here that was untapped,” said Woody. “I just pound, and I will continue to pound into the culture of Autio to keep going there because those stories are not good," said Kevin. "They’re vicious. And they’re repetitive. And you quit seeing the freeways, and you start seeing these places where there was great drama occurring, and you think, oh my God."
Learning about the history of the locations we're visiting — or hearing additional narratives about places we believe we already know — adds a whole new depth to the experience for Woody and Kevin.
"We expand our world when we step out. We’re not explorers necessarily, but when we do, we come back bigger people. When you see it from horseback, when you see it from a car, you’re adding to your Rolodex of what you know, what you’ve seen, and you can become a more expansive person just by doing a road trip," Kevin explained. "And with the application, you don’t have to stumble on those round markers, you don’t have to stop, you can keep going. You can just have a richer experience."
What is the cost and how to subscribe to Autio?
The app is completely free to download and contains five tales. A $36 yearly subscription allows you to use the full library. Members of the RV club Good Sam receive a $19.99 annual discount. All the stories in this app are centered on that location's culture, history, local insights, music, natural marvels, and sports.
After using this app, you will be able to listen to 5 tales for free before having to purchase a 30-day, 1-year, or 3-year plan. Stories can also be downloaded and listened to offline. This software is available for iPhone and has received over 500,000 downloads.
Where is Autio now?
"Our main goal is to create these discovery opportunities and provide these thoughtful stories about your surroundings that allow you to really explore and engage with them," said Woody. “We initially created the app to provide these user-friendly audio programs for all travelers. Staying true to that, we wanted to expand what we’re offering so it can be utilized in more places—traveling virtually from home, during walks, trips where you fly and drive, and trips where you fly and don’t drive—so it really opens it up to a variety of uses and has a broader reach."
Autio has collaborated with The Moth, a nonprofit storytelling organization dedicated to highlighting marginalized perspectives. Every Autio membership purchased will contribute $1 to The Moth Community Engagement Program, which will fund initiatives such as the Black Voices Project and the Veterans Voice Project, among others.
This entertainment firm, HearHere, was founded in August 2020 with 1500 stories in the West Coast area. This software is now only accessible to iOS users, but it will soon be available for Android users as well. Woody had previously built Zuuka, an iStoryTime library app that was eventually sold. This subscription-based audio road-trip app received $1.6 million in pre-seed investment in 2021.
Kevin is Woody's neighbor, and he loved the company idea so much that he decided to invest in it. This app will have 5,500 tales from 22 states available in 2021. According to TechCrunch, the firm secured $3.2 million in a seed round headed by RV and outdoor store Camping World in February 2022.
This app won the Webby Award for Best Travel App in 2022. This is an excellent tool for learning about the history of a location.
Who will steal the deal?
We think this will get a deal. Kevin has worked on a number of films and television shows for Sony Pictures, which owns the 'Shark Tank' franchise. He is obviously familiar with the show's producers, as well as the Sharks themselves. His involvement suggests that the company is well-funded. However, this may simply be an elaborate commercial for Autio. We believe they will strike a deal with one or more Sharks to increase the app's exposure. It remains to be seen if it will close.
'Shark Tank' Season 14, Episode 17 airs on ABC on Friday, March 17, 2023, at 8 pm ET. Catch the latest episode featuring products like Crispy Cones, Chubby Buttons, Autio, and TNGNT alongside an update segment on Me and the Bees.
Missed an episode? Been wanting to catch up? Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. You can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.