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This is spreadsheet that lists over 600 book publishing startups and their current state of funding as of early 2014. I've been maintaining this list for two years. It's not complete, but it's pretty close (also some of the companies probably aren't exactly suited to this list, but they're also pretty close).You'll see that most of the funding is modest. I explain my ideas about this on my blog at http://thefutureofpublishing.com/2014/01/the-book-publishing-startup-problem/.Scribd does a terrible job of displaying this spreadsheet (despite repeated conversations with tech support) so it's much easier to examine if you download it.
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Digital Book Publishing StartupsPrepared by Thad McIlroy, The Future of Publishing, [email protected]
January 11, 2014
N° Name $$ raised Outcome
1 24symbols In May 2013, mobile services company Zed took a 32% stake for an undisclosed amount2 29th Street Publishing3 3D Pageflip Professional4 Abella Books5 AcademicPub6 Accel.io7 Action Factory8 Aerbook Maker9 Agate Publishing10 Alibris11 Amazon Publishing12 Amazon Kindle Singles13 Andrew Wylie14 Anobii15 Anomaly Productions16 Anthologize17 Anvil Academic18 Any New Books?19 Apabi20 Apex CoVantage21 App Annie $22M22 Apple - iBooks23 AppMakr $1M24 Aptara $23M25 Aquafadas $1.77M Acquired by Kobo; no price given26 The Archive of Our Own27 Astor & Blue Editions28 Atavist $3.43M29 AtContent30 Atria Books (S&S)31 Audible (Amazon) Acquired by Amazon in 2008 for $300 million. NOTE: This is not really a relevant transaction for his project but it was worth recording.32 AuthorPortal33 Author Solutions Author Solutions was acquired by Penguin Group for $116M34 Autography35 Azardi & Infogrid Pacific36 Baen Free Library37 Backpack Books 38 Baker39 Baker & Taylor40 Bananaseedsbooks
1 £
41 Bardowl42 Barefoot Books43 Barnes & Noble NOOK ? Microsoft invests $600m in May, 201244 BeBook45 Bee The Books46 Benchprep $7.8M47 Berkeley Electronic Press48 Berrett-Koehler49 Betterbook50 Better World Books $4.5M51 Biblioboard52 Bibliogo53 BiblioLabs54 Bibliomotion55 BiblioNasium56 Big Boost Media57 BitLit $223k58 Bilbary59 BitTorrent Publishing Model60 BizBookLab61 Blio62 Bluefire Reader63 BlueGriffon64 Blurb $19.1M65 Bondfire Books66 Book Country Subsidiary of Penguin Group67 Book Unbound68 Bookateria69 BookBaby AVL Digital family of media businesses, which include CD Baby, HostBaby, and Disc Makers70 Bookboard71 BookBoon72 BookBox73 BookBub74 Book Buyback $1M75 BookCities76 BookFinder Acquired by AbeBooks. (11/1/05)77 Book Genome Project78 BookGlutton79 Bookhuddle Out of business80 BookieJar PR81 Bookigee $638k82 Bookish $10m Sold to Zola, Jan 201483 BookJetty84 BookLamp $110k85 Bookle86 BookLikes87 BookMachine
88 Bookmasters, Inc89 BookMooch90 Book Of Cooks91 BookOS Out of business92 Bookouture93 BookOven94 BookPrep-HP95 BookPulse96 BookRiff Out of business97 Book Riot98 BookRix99 Books24x7100 Books-A-Million101 BookScout102 Bookseer Out of business103 BookShout $6M104 BooksonBoard eBookstore105 Books That Work Out of business106 Books You Touch107 Bookstream108 Booktagger109 BookThug110 Booktiq111 BookTrack $2M112 BookTrix113 Booktrope114 BookType115 Booku Closed June/2013116 BookVerdict117 BookVibe118 Bookwire119 Bookworm (Amazon.com)120 BookXtra121 booqlab122 Boosh123 BooXtream124 Borders125 Borne Digital126 Bonte Books127 Bowker128 Brain Hive129 Brightline130 Bublish131 BuBo Bookshelf132 Buqu133 Byliner $1M134 Calaméo Blog
135 Calibre Different company136 Callaway Digital Arts $6M137 Callisto Media138 Canongate139 Capstone Digital140 Cathysbook141 CFE Media—ContentStream142 Chafie143 Chegg Nov. 2013 IPO144 Chelsea Green Publishing145 Christian Manuscript Subm.146 Chronicle Books147 Classroom Library Co.148 Coliloquy149 CampusBookRentals150 codeMantra151 Coliloquy152 College Book Renter $10M153 Comixology154 Commentpress155 CompletelyNovel156 Confusometer157 Constellation158 ContentStream159 Cookbook Cafe 160 Cookstr Acquired by Macmillan, Jan/2014, no price given161 Copia162 Courseload163 CourseSmart164 CoverCake165 Coverlist166 CreateSpace167 Creepy Magellan Books168 Cream eBooks169 Credo170 Crocodoc171 CrossBooks172 Cursor/Red Lemonade173 Curtis Brown174 Daily Lit/Plympton175 Datamatics Daily Lit & Plympton merged 02-2013176 DCL177 DeepShelf178 De Marque179 Demibooks Inc180 Democrasoft181 Describli
182 Desire2Learn183 desLibris184 DigiBooks4All185 Diversion Books186 dotdotdot - reading app187 dotEPUB188 Duotrope189 E-junkie Shopping Cart190 E-Reads191 Eagle & Snake enhanced ebook192 Eat Your Books193 Ebook Glue $20k194 Ebook Head195 EBook Solutions196 eBook Systems197 ebookconversion198 EBookFling199 eBookPlus200 eBooks in Motion $335k201 ebookwise202 eBook Technologies Acquired by Google, 1-2011, no price given203 ebw.co_kbase204 ECW Experiment205 EDIT INTERNATIONAL206 Editeur207 Edition One Books208 Electric Yarn209 Emanata210 Enhanced E-books from TED Books211 eNovate Media Solutions212 eReatah Now named Entitle213 Enthrill Distribution214 Entitle $5.3M New name for eReatah215 ePubDirect $1.7M216 epubli217 ePublicans218 ePubNow219 eReaderIQ220 Escape Publishing221 Espresso222 eTernity-eTextBooks Europe223 EtherBooks224 Eucalyptus_ The Library225 Evident Point - Richmond, BC226 Exemplarr Chennai227 Exprima Media228 Facebook
229 Faculty of 1000230 Fanfiction.net231 FanStory232 FastPencil233 Fastr $100k234 Figment_ Write yourself in235 Figshare-About236 Figure 1 Publishing237 Findings238 Flatbooks239 FlatLeaf - eBook Subscription Service240 Float_ The Netflix of Reading241 Flooved offers digital book subs242 Flurry243 Four&Six244 Freebooksy245 FreeTextbooks.com246 Frontenac House Media247 Funny or Die Jumps into Tablet Content248 Ganxy249 Gazette250 Ghost251 Ginkgotree Received Series A funding; amount not disclosed252 Glipho253 Glossi.com254 Goodreads $2.75M Sold to Amazon.com for $150 Million255 Google Books256 Google Play257 Graphicly $7.32M258 Greenleaf259 GRIDS Interactive260 Group FMG261 Gumroad262 Gutenberg Technology263 Gutenberg-e264 H20265 Habitat (Inkling )266 Hachette Digital267 Haihaisoft Product Serv.268 Happy About269 Harlequin270 HarperCollins271 HarperStudio272 Harvard Bus Review Press273 HC CEO274 Helicon - Advanced EPUB3 reader275 Hewlett-Packard
276 Higosoft PDF to EPUB Converter277 Hiptype Received Y Combinator seed funding 8/12278 Holocene279 Hoopla280 HTC Global Services281 Humble Bundle282 Hudson Booksellers283 Hybrid Publishing Lab284 Hyperink285 Hypothes.is286 iAmplify287 IDBOOX288 IDEAL Group, Inc289 IDPF290 iDreamBooks291 iFactory292 Impelsys293 Indiegogo294 Ingram295 Inklewriter296 Inkling297 Inktera298 inReads299 INscribe Digital300 Integra301 InterMix302 Interweave303 Intuary304 iPublishCentral305 iUniverse306 issuu $6.25M307 Jabber for the iPad308 Jellybooks309 JibJab E-Book Platform310 Joliprint311 Jouve312 Kbuuk-Are You Ready313 Kickstarter-Seth Godin314 KiteReaders315 KiwiTech316 Klopotek317 Kno318 Knowledge Unlatched319 Kobo $79M Acquired by Rakuten for $315M320 LAD Custom Publishing321 Leanpub322 Lebrary.com
323 Lelivro324 LexParadigm325 Libboo326 LibraryIdeas.jpg327 Library Thing328 LibreDigital329 Librify330 LibriVox331 liquidbooks332 LitPick333 Live Ink334 Livrada $1.41M335 Loud Crow336 Love to Learn-Pearson337 Lulu.com338 Luminary Digital Media339 Luzme — eBook search site340 LyX341 Macmillan Enhanced E-Books342 Madefire343 Magcloud344 Mantano Reader 2.3.9345 Marquee346 Marvel ebooks347 Marvin - eBook reader348 MAZ (iPad magazine)349 McSweeneys350 Medallion Group351 Media Cooler Innovations352 MediaNet eBooks353 MediaWay White Paper354 Mediawide Brandmark355 Medium356 Melville House357 Meograph358 MetaComet359 Metrodigi360 Microsoft361 Midpoint Distribution362 Mill City Press363 MindTheBook364 Mobi see Amazon365 MobileReference366 MobNotate367 Moglue $990k368 MPS369 Murasaki
370 MyEbookFactory371 MyON372 MyTabletBooks373 Nebraska Book Company374 NetGalley375 NetMinds376 Neverend377 Newgen FAQ378 Nielsen379 Ninestars380 Nokia381 Nomad Editions 382 NovelRank383 Novelspot384 Now and Then Reader385 Nu-book386 Numberlys387 Odyl388 On Demand389 ONIX390 OnlyIndie391 OnSwipe392 Open Air $970k Acquired by Inkling 2013393 Open Bookmarks394 Open Road $19M395 OR Books396 O'Reilly397 Orson & Co398 Osprey399 OverDrive400 Ownshelf401 Oyster $3M402 Padify403 Page Foundry404 PageKicker405 Panarea Digital406 Pandamian407 Pandora408 PaperC409 Papercut410 Paperight411 Paperless Publishing412 Papertrell413 Pappus414 Pen.io415 Perceptive Media416 Picaboo
417 PinchZoom418 Planman Technologies419 PlayTales420 Pleens421 Plympton See Daily Lit422 Pochys Ventures423 Polis Books424 Postachio425 Pottermore426 Pragmatic Bookshelf427 PressBooks428 Prismatic’s Bradford Cross429 Progressive Information Technologies430 ProImage America431 Project Gutenberg432 PRSS433 Pubcoder $274k434 PubEasy Home435 Publerati436 Publification437 Publish Green438 Publishing Technology439 Publit440 Publiwide-2011441 PubMatch442 PUBSLUSH Press443 Pugpig FAQs444 Push Pop Press445 Puzzazz446 Qbend447 Quarto Group448 Quietly Funding received; amount not disclosed449 Quillr450 Random House Digi. Imprints451 Readability452 Read How You Want453 ReadBooks MobiLire454 ReadCloud455 ReadCube Web Reader456 Reading Trails $5k457 Readings - Startup458 Readlists459 Readmill Funding amount not disclosed460 Readom461 ReadSocial462 ReadWave $465k463 Readz
464 Reality Premedia465 ReDigi $1.51M466 Red Staple467 ReKiosk468 Rethink-Bookshout469 Rhino musical e-books470 Riffle471 River Valley472 Riverdale Avenue Books473 Rosetta Books474 Ruckus Media $3.5M475 Safari Books Online476 Sapling Learning477 sBooks478 Scarlett479 Scholastica480 Scribd $25.8M481 Scribe482 ScrollMotion483 Self Publishing, Inc484 Semi-Linear485 Sequential486 Serendipite Studios487 Seth Godin488 Shadow Gang489 SharedBook490 Shindig491 Sigil492 SiSU information Structuring493 SkyInk Studios494 Slicebooks Funding amount not disclosed495 Small Batch Books496 Small Demons $5.35M497 Smashwords498 Snapplify499 SocialBook500 Sony Partners501 South Eastern Book Company502 Sparkabook503 Speakaboos504 SPi_Innovation Lab505 Spundge506 Stanza Desktop conversion507 StarHub508 Stison509 StorEbook children's books510 Story Beam
511 Storybird512 StoryBundle513 Storythings514 StoryTruck515 StudyEBuddy516 Subtext $3M517 Subutai518 SunTec India519 Suvudu (Random House)520 Super-e-reads521 Swoon Reads522 Symtext523 Systime524 TasteBook Acquired by Random House, 2012525 Tate Publishing526 TEA527 Telemachus Press528 Textastic (iOS)529 TexTech-iPad Conversion530 The Book Depository531 The Melody Book 532 The New Press533 The Reading Room $2.75M534 TheWriteDeal535 Thin Reads536 Threepress Consulting Acquired by Safari Books Online (1/9/12)537 Thrift Books538 Tim Ferriss539 Timbus Books540 TinHouse-news541 Tizra542 Togather543 Total Boox $500k544 Touch Press545 Track New Book546 Trafford547 Travora Media548 Trident Media549 Tumblr to Published Book550 Txtr Angel and Series A funding, amounts not disclosed551 Ubimark552 Unbound Concepts $50k553 UnglueIt554 unruly555 Urtak556 ValoBox557 Valore Books
558 Vangelizer559 Verso Story Engine560 Versu561 Vidbooks562 Virtualo dla Wydawcow563 Visify Books564 Visual Editions565 Vitalsource566 ViziPress567 Vook $7.75M568 Ware-Pak-EBook Solutions569 Wattpad $20.8M570 WaveCloud Blog571 WEbook572 Weightless Books573 What Should I Read Next574 Whichbook575 Whitefox576 Widbook577 Wolfram578 Worldreader.org579 Wowio $7.7M580 Write or Read581 Writer2ePub _ Extensions582 WriterCube583 Writerly584 WritersWebTV585 XanEdu Publishing586 Xcite Books587 Xilisoft PDF to EPUB588 Xist Publishing589 XPAD590 Xplana591 Xquire592 Xulon593 Xuni594 Yasiv-Amazon Book Search595 Ying Horowitz & Quinn596 YUDU597 ZappTek598 Zco Corporation599 Ziggeo600 Zola $5.1M601 ZOOpubs
Total funds raised $334.32 M
Total cash outs $465 M
Notes on the Data1. This list is intended to be representative, but it certainly is not complete. The startup listings are drawn from published
online reports. Some companies attract little publicity. Others I've just not spotted.My feeling about the utility of this list is that there are over 600 startups represesented, so the missingare presumably mostly small non-funded ventrues, unlikely to change my conclusions.
2. Product vs. Company: I generally default to using the product name rather than the company name because the productname is usually more widly recognized.
3. Country of origin: Most of the startups listed here are U.S.-based. I've included a handful of non-U.S. startups where that comany's business plan appears to include a U.S. focus.
4. Funding: In the majority of cases companies announce their founding rounds because, if nothing else, it's goodpublicity, demonstrating that investors value the company enough to risk their cash. The fundingamount(s) is/are usually also announced. In cases where a company has not disclosed the extent ofthe funding it claims to have received I don't make a record of the "event". My thought is that ifthe amount is not disclosed it will usually be small.
5: Company sale value: It would certainly be interesting to calculate the return on investment for thoserelatively few firms that have been acquired. The acquisition price is rarely revealed, generally because it wouldreveal how slightly the company was valued. Large payments are more frequently disclosed.Those few acquisitions where the price is revealed are more of a public relations effort that an attempt to disclosebusiness valuations. As a result the "Total sales recorded" number above has little or no value.
6. CrunchBase: My task was made easier by Crunchbase's authority in the marketplace. Most companies are thrilledto post news of a funding round on Crunchbase, as their Crunchbase listing in one of the simple and immediate sources that most investors turn to when they first consider an investment. They're certainlymust be some missing data, but I've yet to find news of an investment in a publishing startup not recorded on CrunchBase.
7: Startups vs. Established Companies: My focus here is on publishing startups, primarily those that serve the book publishing industry in part or in whole. I am not recording investment events of the large and well-established companies:for example, the Penguin/Random House merger is not part of my focus.
Publishing rights for this document:
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial,as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to Thad McIlroy.
In May 2013, mobile services company Zed took a 32% stake for an undisclosed amount
2
22
123
1.77
3.43
Acquired by Amazon in 2008 for $300 million. NOTE: This is not really a relevant transaction for his project but it was worth recording.
Author Solutions was acquired by Penguin Group for $116M
7.8
4.5
0.223
19.1
AVL Digital family of media businesses, which include CD Baby, HostBaby, and Disc Makers
1
0.63810
0.11
6
2
1
6
10
Acquired by Macmillan, Jan/2014, no price given
0.02
0.335
5.31.7
0.1
Received Series A funding; amount not disclosed
2.75
7.32
6.25
79
1.41
0.99
0.97
19
3
0.274
0.05
0.465
1.51
3.5
25.8
5.35
3
2.75
0.5
Angel and Series A funding, amounts not disclosed
0.05
7.75
20.8
7.7
5.1
28.75 7.00 $0.00 $7.11
0.0249
1. This list is intended to be representative, but it certainly is not complete. The startup listings are drawn from published
My feeling about the utility of this list is that there are over 600 startups represesented, so the missing
2. Product vs. Company: I generally default to using the product name rather than the company name because the product
3. Country of origin: Most of the startups listed here are U.S.-based. I've included a handful of non-U.S. startups
4. Funding: In the majority of cases companies announce their founding rounds because, if nothing else, it's goodpublicity, demonstrating that investors value the company enough to risk their cash. The fundingamount(s) is/are usually also announced. In cases where a company has not disclosed the extent ofthe funding it claims to have received I don't make a record of the "event". My thought is that if
5: Company sale value: It would certainly be interesting to calculate the return on investment for thoserelatively few firms that have been acquired. The acquisition price is rarely revealed, generally because it wouldreveal how slightly the company was valued. Large payments are more frequently disclosed.Those few acquisitions where the price is revealed are more of a public relations effort that an attempt to disclosebusiness valuations. As a result the "Total sales recorded" number above has little or no value.
6. CrunchBase: My task was made easier by Crunchbase's authority in the marketplace. Most companies are thrilledto post news of a funding round on Crunchbase, as their Crunchbase listing in one of the simple and immediate sources that most investors turn to when they first consider an investment. They're certainlymust be some missing data, but I've yet to find news of an investment in a publishing startup not recorded on CrunchBase.
7: Startups vs. Established Companies: My focus here is on publishing startups, primarily those that serve the book publishing industry in part or in whole. I am not recording investment events of the large and well-established companies:
Notes on the Data1. This list is intended to be representative, but it certainly is not complete. The startup listings are drawn from published
online reports. Some companies attract little publicity. Others I've just not spotted.My feeling about the utility of this list is that there are over 600 startups represesented, so the missingare presumably mostly small non-funded ventrues, unlikely to change my conclusions.
2. Product vs. Company: I generally default to using the product name rather than the company name because the productname is usually more widly recognized.
3. Country of origin: Most of the startups listed here are U.S.-based. I've included a handful of non-U.S. startups where that comany's business plan appears to include a U.S. focus.
4. Funding: In the majority of cases companies announce their founding rounds because, if nothing else, it's goodpublicity, demonstrating that investors value the company enough to risk their cash. The fundingamount(s) is/are usually also announced. In cases where a company has not disclosed the extent ofthe funding it claims to have received I don't make a record of the "event". My thought is that ifthe amount is not disclosed it will usually be small.
5: Company sale value: It would certainly be interesting to calculate the return on investment for thoserelatively few firms that have been acquired. The acquisition price is rarely revealed, generally because it wouldreveal how slightly the company was valued. Large payments are more frequently disclosed.Those few acquisitions where the price is revealed are more of a public relations effort that an attempt to disclosebusiness valuations. As a result the "Total sales recorded" number above has little or no value.
6. CrunchBase: My task was made easier by Crunchbase's authority in the marketplace. Most companies are thrilledto post news of a funding round on Crunchbase, as their Crunchbase listing in one of the simple and immediate sources that most investors turn to when they first consider an investment. They're certainlymust be some missing data, but I've yet to find news of an investment in a publishing startup not recorded on CrunchBase.
7: Startups vs. Established Companies: My focus here is on publishing startups, primarily those the serve the book publishing industry in part or in whole. I am not recording investment events of the large and well-established companies:for example, the Penguin/Random House merger is not part of my focus.
Rights for this document:
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial,as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to Thad McIlroy.
1. This list is intended to be representative, but it certainly is not complete. The startup listings are drawn from published
My feeling about the utility of this list is that there are over 600 startups represesented, so the missing
2. Product vs. Company: I generally default to using the product name rather than the company name because the product
3. Country of origin: Most of the startups listed here are U.S.-based. I've included a handful of non-U.S. startups
4. Funding: In the majority of cases companies announce their founding rounds because, if nothing else, it's goodpublicity, demonstrating that investors value the company enough to risk their cash. The fundingamount(s) is/are usually also announced. In cases where a company has not disclosed the extent ofthe funding it claims to have received I don't make a record of the "event". My thought is that if
5: Company sale value: It would certainly be interesting to calculate the return on investment for thoserelatively few firms that have been acquired. The acquisition price is rarely revealed, generally because it wouldreveal how slightly the company was valued. Large payments are more frequently disclosed.Those few acquisitions where the price is revealed are more of a public relations effort that an attempt to disclosebusiness valuations. As a result the "Total sales recorded" number above has little or no value.
6. CrunchBase: My task was made easier by Crunchbase's authority in the marketplace. Most companies are thrilledto post news of a funding round on Crunchbase, as their Crunchbase listing in one of the simple and immediate sources that most investors turn to when they first consider an investment. They're certainlymust be some missing data, but I've yet to find news of an investment in a publishing startup not recorded on CrunchBase.
7: Startups vs. Established Companies: My focus here is on publishing startups, primarily those the serve the book publishing industry in part or in whole. I am not recording investment events of the large and well-established companies:
