Shanda calls itself the ‘Canva for podcasts’ — and makes its case for growth with modest capital

A DC podcast editing startup is expanding features on its platform — and emphasizes that major growth can happen with little capital. 

Shanda, an AI tool to help creators develop professional podcasts, now offers analytics, support for 12 languages and an expanded music library in its third version. The thesis? To provide a way to share ideas through the deeply human medium of audio, and make it available to people who are not skilled in editing or producing, per cofounder Dumi Mabhena. 

And, according to Mabhena, the team is doing so with limited investment and a distributed part-time team in a region better known for govtech, cyber and defense.

“I like to say ‘Canva for podcasts,’” Mabhena told Technical.ly, likening his product to the drag-and-drop graphic design platform. 

Mabhena and his cofounder built Shanda with “modest capital,” including bootstrapping and about $40,000 from pitch competition wins in the DMV. The startup nabbed angel funding in summer 2025, which fueled this new version, though he declined to say how much.

Most of the staff, scattered across the world including in Egypt, Ukraine and Spain, works part-time. That structure helped Shanda build the product, per Mabhena, due to lower overhead. DC also has a lower cost of living than hubs in California and New York. For example, for someone making $75,000 a year in DC, rents would likely be 52% higher in San Francisco, according to RentCafe’s cost of living calculator. 

Shanda has amassed about 1,000 users in the US, UK and Australia, per Mabhena, and he believes that number will spike with the new features. 

The platform offers a free version, a pro plan for $19 a month and a business plan for $49 a month. There’s also a seven-day free trial for paid plans.

Navigating a govtech investment landscape  

Govtech, cyber and energy companies are accumulating venture capital at the highest rates in the DMV, according to PitchBook. In 2025, the region saw a historic $5.4 billion in VC, a huge chunk of that being from those verticals. 

Mabhena said he’d be interested in pursuing VC funding later on, but wants to focus on profitability first. 

“The [top] priority for us is being capital efficient,” he said. “And then, of course, we can raise money in a small, smarter way.”

Because of the talent pool and higher education support systems, Mabhena said he will keep Shanda in the region despite the different funding priorities. Product development started in 2024, he said, while in a Georgetown MBA program with cofounder Paul Kassar. 

The university brought with it a lot of perks, Mabhena said. Through Georgetown, he’s hired interns and has a physical office to work out of. 

He’s also built relationships with people in the area, including those angel investors, and doesn’t want to abandon that for a flashier ecosystem. 

“Capital really moves at the speed of trust,” Mabhena said. “Trust comes from people, ecosystems that know you and your team and what you’re trying to build.”