• by Melynda Fuller , November 27, 2019

Reading subscription service Scribd is poised for future growth as it closes a $58 million round of equity financing.

The round was led by Spectrum Equity. Spectrum will also join Scribd’s board of directors.

Scribd, which offers access to ebooks, audiobooks and articles, among other types of content, said it will use the funds to support product innovation and enhance operations.

“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,” Trip Adler, founder-CEO, stated. “This funding will enable us to continue to operate sustainably and efficiently.”

The new monies will also be used to invest in the company’s employees, which have nearly doubled over the past two years. New offices have opened in San Francisco, where the company is based, New York, Phoenix, Toronto and Amsterdam.

Scribd introduced its reading subscription service in 2013 after launching in 2007. Since then, it has grown to reach 100 million unique visitors monthly who spend a total of more than 190 million hours on the platform.

Scribd now counts over 1 million paying subscribers, up from 750,000 in 2018. This growth is due, in part, to localized experiences across international markets.

The platform has partnerships with each of the “Big Five” book publishers. Last year, it partnered with The New York Times to offer a bundled subscription package that provided access to all Scribd’s content alongside The Times digital options for $12.99 a month.