Scribd has received $58 million in new equity financing. Led by Spectrum Equity, the new investment, Scribd said, will be used to support growth and product innovation as well as enhance operations. “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,” said Scribd cofounder and CEO Trip Adler.
According to a Scribd spokesperson, the funding will support expanding the company’s staff and improving its subscription service business by such things as adding more premium content, improving recommendations, and opening new growth channels.
More international expansion will be an area where the new financing will be used. Global growth could take two forms—opening in new countries—the company recently launched in Mexico—and expanding its catalogue to attract more overseas subscribers to its U.S. service (about half of Scribd subscribers are overseas).
This year also saw the launch of Scribd’s first original e-books and audiobook developed through Scribd Originals The company has released four original books to date and the next Scribd Original, Think Like a Billionaire, will be released in early December and is written and recorded by James Alutcher.
Spectrum Equity has invested in a host of software, information services and internet companies including Ancestry, Bats Global Markets, GoodRx, Grubhub, Headspace, The Knot Worldwide, and SurveyMonkey.
Pete Jensen, managing director of Spectrum Equity, said he sees many more opportunities for Scribd to grow. “Scribd is poised to be the leading online subscription reading service for consumers across the globe,” he said in a statement. “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.”
