Music app Pandora is set to acquire AdsWizz, a digital audio advertising technology provider, for $145 million to boost its capabilities and expand revenue opportunities.

“AdsWizz is one of the few ad tech firms that is completely dedicated to digital audio, serving some of the largest players in the industry,” the company said in a statement.

“With digital audio advertising growing 42 per cent year-over-year, according to [research company] IAB, the combined offering of Pandora and AdsWizz will capitalise on this trend, while making it easier for publishers to monetise their inventory and for advertisers to buy and measure their campaigns,” the company added.

Pandora CEO Roger Lynch said he highlighted advertising technology as a key area of investment since taking over six months ago and holds ambitions to create “the largest digital audio advertising ecosystem, better serving global publishers and advertisers, while improving Pandora’s own monetisation capabilities.”

AdsWizz will become a subsidiary of Pandora, with its CEO Alexis van de Wyer keeping his position.

In 2017 Pandora, which faces stiff competition from services including Spotify and Apple Music, announced Tim Westergren would step down as CEO and from the board of directors, as it wound down its presence in Australia and New Zealand to focus on the US.

This was not long after it received an investment of $480 million from satellite radio company SiriusXM and sold its Ticketfly business to Eventbrite for $200 million.