Audion names Mike Villalobos first chief revenue officer for U.S. expansion

Audion named Mike Villalobos as its first chief revenue officer as the AI audio ad-tech company ramps up its U.S. build-out after a $15 million Series B and New York launch in April. The hire is meant to help Audion push performance-based audio advertising in a market where audio gets far less ad spend than media time.

Why it matters: - Audion is trying to close a long-running gap in the U.S. ad market: audio gets about 21% of daily media time, but only about 5% of ad spend, according to eMarketer. - The company is betting that more precise targeting, optimization and outcome measurement can make audio easier to buy on performance, not just reach. - Villalobos gives Audion a senior revenue leader with direct experience building commercial teams in the U.S.

What happened: - Audion named Mike Villalobos as chief revenue officer. - Villalobos will lead revenue strategy and the commercial organization as Audion expands in the U.S. - The appointment comes five months after Audion raised a $15 million Series B and launched in New York in April. - Co-founder and CEO Arthur Larrey moved to New York to lead the U.S. effort.

The details: - Villalobos will own revenue across Audion’s demand and supply business. - Villalobos reports to Larrey. - His mandate starts with the U.S. and extends to Audion’s global commercial organization as the company scales. - Audion has added Jake Cameron as head of marketing, Andy Munro-Lott as senior director of sales and Caroline Maher as sales director. - The U.S. team now totals five people. - Villalobos joins from Seedtag, where he was SVP of global go-to-market and commercial operations. - At Seedtag, Villalobos oversaw demand and supply revenue, commercial operations, analytics, measurement and client services across 17 markets. - Villalobos previously ran Seedtag’s North America business. - Earlier roles included positions at PubMatic and #Paid, new-business leadership for Teads’ performance advertising division and co-founding and serving as SVP of sales at FuelX. - At FuelX, Villalobos built the sales organization and opened multiple offices nationally. - Audion was founded in 2018 by Arthur Larrey and Kamel El Hadef. - Audion works with more than 3,000 advertisers and agencies across Europe and the United States. - Audion’s technology analyzes audio and video content to understand what audiences are hearing and watching. - Audion uses that analysis to support contextual targeting, campaign activation and optimization across premium audio and video environments.

Between the lines: - Larrey is signaling that U.S. expansion needs a leader with local operating experience, not just international ad-tech credentials. - The company is positioning “Performance Audio” as a way to reframe audio from a reach channel into a measurable sales driver. - The U.S. hire suggests Audion is moving from market entry to commercial scale-up. - Villalobos framed the challenge as building the U.S. business from the ground up while leaning on Audion’s European track record.

What’s next: - Audion is expected to keep building out its U.S. commercial team as it pursues more demand-side and supply-side business. - The company will try to convert its measurement and contextual tech into more U.S. advertiser adoption. - Audion’s broader growth plan appears focused on scaling revenue in the U.S. first, then extending that model globally.

The bottom line: - Audion is making a senior bet that U.S. growth in performance audio will depend on experienced local leadership, not just product promise.