LONDON, United Kingdom - Inkitt has successfully raised $59 million for its Series B funding, and it brings along new investors to join in on the company, with massive new names from media and technology giants, NEA and Axel Springer. Michael Lynton, Chairman of Snap, and Stefan von Holtzbrinck of Holtzbrinck Digital have also joined in for stakes.
Inkitt's $59M Series B Funding
The online publishing company has raised funds to support Inkitt's global expansion, with sights set on San Francisco for a new business hub.
Inkitt will also continue its expansion into new genres and storytelling formats. This follows the launch of its new Thriller category and entry into the audiobook space.
The new funding will be used to continue Inkitt's exponential growth and global expansion - with the company's sights set in the United States in the immediate future.
This comes as part of a strategic plan to become the 'Disney of the 21st Century' - which will mean developing even more new products and features, as well as innovating across multiple new genres and formats, on Inkitt's journey to becoming a globally known distributed of multichannel, full-spectrum content.
Inkitt will also continue to invest in its team, outlining roles across engineering, marketing, and finance and a particular focus on hiring U.S.-based talent. The company already has an 80-strong team of passionate and experienced entrepreneurs, engineers, and artists based in its Berlin office, including hires from Netflix, N26, Blizzard, Babbel, Glovo, and Yandex.
Inkitt Expands on the Data-Driven Content Publishing with New Partners
Inkitt is expanding, bringing Scott Sandell of NEA to have a position at Inkitt's board of directors, while Axel Springer SE CEO, Mathias Döpfner, will receive an observer seat.
"I'm thrilled to welcome Scott and Mathias to Inkitt's board; it's incredibly exciting to be working with such world class investors and executives as we continue to build the Disney of the 21st Century together.
The Inkitt team has worked extremely hard to develop the most systematic approach to discovering the best stories worldwide, building tools and processes to turn them into commercially successful stories in text and audiobook formats."
-Ali Albazaz, CEO and Founder of Inkitt
Who is Inkitt?
Inkitt's proprietary technology allows the platform to showcase data-driven blockbusters. The Inkitt community today has 7 million users and 300,000 writers from all over the world.
The online service aims to bring new e-books and other forms of written media online. People are focusing more on its integration with readily available smartphones and devices. Not only that, its content would focus more on original content and features from renowned artists that brought their masterpieces to the platform.
Inkitt is also known for its venture as a "reader-powered" service, and it only means that it would focus more on what is demanded or serves the reader best, as they have stakes on what the content brings.
