Scribd brings in $22 million to expand e-book subscription service

Scribd, one of the major firms competing to claim the title “Netflix for e-books,” has closed on a round of $22 million in funding. The move shows that investors see real potential in e-book subscriptions, which pits independents Scribd and Oyster against online retailer Amazon.

In a statement, Scribd CEO Trip Adler said, “We had a fantastic 2014 at Scribd.... doubled our e-Book titles, adding content from 1,000+ publishers - including Big 5 publishers Harper Collins and Simon & Schuster - along with industry leaders like Harlequin, Houghton Mifflin, Lonely Planet, Perseus and Wiley.”

Founded as a document-sharing service in 2007, Scribd began offering a flat-rate e-book subscription service in 2013.

“The subscription model has already transformed the way we consume content like film and music, and Scribd is doing the same with books,” said Keith Rabois, partner at Khosla Ventures, which led the new round of funding. “I look forward to working with the Scribd team to scale their product to a massive global audience.”

Adler also signaled that with the new round of funding, Scribd is looking to expand its international offerings. “This new funding round will enable us to work towards achieving our goal of creating the most comprehensive library of the future for our millions of users around the world,” he said.

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