Serial Box, a digital publishing venture that serializes original fiction in e-book and audiobook formats, has secured $1.65 million in seed investment. The current round of investment was led by Boat Rocker Media; early Serial Box investors include Richard Sarnoff, former co-chair of Bertelsmann, and Mattias Lundgren, CEO of Word Audio Publishing.
Michel Pratte, CRO of Boat Rocker Media, said “We see a big opportunity for Serial Box to be a top tier publishing studio of original serial entertainment.”
Founded in 2015 by Molly Barton, former global digital director of Penguin, and Julian Yap, a former senior counsel in the Justice Department, Serial Box is designed to be an “HBO for Readers." The venture attracts consumers with weekly serialized genre fiction produced much like a TV show.
The venture uses teams of writers to produce original material in a variety of genres each week. Readers can pay by week ($1.59 per week) or annually ($18) for a season of 10-13 episode serials. Serial Box has also partnered with The Associated Press, Adaptive Studios, the Hachette Book Group and others.
“We’re successfully attracting and retaining a loyal premium audience,” Barton said, adding that average order value has increased steadily in the last six months.
