Scribd Announces $58 Million Strategic Investment Led by Spectrum Equity
The reading subscription company adds Spectrum to its board of directors and bolsters executive leadership team as it prepares for continued growth
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Scribd, the unlimited reading subscription service that offers access to the best ebooks, audiobooks, documents and more, today announced it has closed $58 million in equity financing led by Spectrum Equity. The investment will be used to support growth and product innovation, enhance operations, and further the company's mission to change the way the world reads.
Over the past two years, Scribd has achieved major milestones including surpassing over one million paying subscribers, introducing localized experiences for international markets, and nearly doubling its employee base. It has expanded its footprint with offices in San Francisco (HQ), New York, Phoenix, Toronto, and Amsterdam. To prepare for future growth and innovation, Scribd bolstered its executive team with the hires of Jared Fliesler (Google, Square, Slide) as Chief Operating Officer in 2018 and Tony Grimmick (HotelTonight, StubHub) as Chief Financial Officer in 2019.
"We're excited to partner with Spectrum Equity, a firm with deep expertise in high growth subscription businesses, as we prepare for the future," said Trip Adler, Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "By partnering with the world's best publishers of all types of content, Scribd has introduced a first-of-its-kind experience for readers, while unlocking a new revenue stream for the publishing community. This funding will enable us to continue to operate sustainably and efficiently while accelerating our growth, product innovations, content acquisition and continued investment in our employees."
Pete Jensen, Managing Director of Spectrum Equity, said, "As a differentiated content library, including robust user-generated content and ebooks and audiobooks from top tier publishers, Scribd is poised to be the leading online subscription reading service for consumers across the globe. Spectrum has been fortunate to be a part of successfully scaling several digital content businesses, and we look forward to partnering with Trip and the entire management team to help make Scribd a part of readers' everyday lives."
Scribd launched in 2007 and introduced the world's first reading subscription service in 2013. Today more than 100 million unique visitors come to Scribd every month and readers have spent a total of over 190 million hours reading on the platform.
About Scribd
Scribd is the unlimited reading subscription that offers access to the best books, audiobooks, news and magazine articles, documents and more. Scribd is available across iOS and Android devices, as well as web browsers, and hosts more than 100 million readers across the globe every month. For more, visit www.scribd.com and follow @Scribd on Twitter and Instagram.
About Spectrum Equity
Spectrum Equity is a leading growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support to innovative companies in the information economy. For over 25 years, the firm has partnered with proven entrepreneurs and management teams to build long-term value in market-leading software, information services and Internet companies. Representative investments include Ancestry, Bats Global Markets, Definitive Healthcare, GoodRx, Grubhub, Headspace, The Knot Worldwide, Lynda.com, SurveyMonkey and Verafin. For more information, including a complete list of portfolio investments, visit www.spectrumequity.com.
SOURCE Scribd
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