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04/17

Korean ebook platform Ridibooks raises $20m in fresh funds

South Korean ebook provider Ridibooks today announced it raised US$20 million in series C funding from Praxis Capital Partners, ShinHan Finance Investment, and Company K Partners.
 
Founded in 2009, the company has more than 2.5 million users, while 175 million ebooks have been downloaded using its platform. It says it generated over US$50 million in revenue in 2016 alone.
 
A company spokesman tells Tech in Asia the team will use the money to improve user experience across all their products.
 
Ridibooks also provides its own ereader, the Ridi Paper, which is similar to Amazon’s Kindle device and has launched Ridistory, a platform for serialized novels and web comics. It claims its most popular romance novel Under The Oak Tree has already garnered 1 million views.
 
South Korea’s book market is pegged at US$18 billion, according to the company. Ebooks account for roughly US$180 million, which is just 1 percent of the pie, but “it grows rapidly,” it adds.
 
The startup’s main competitors include Kyobo Books and Yes24, which are among the biggest bookstore chains in South Korea, selling print books as well as ebooks on their sites. Ridibooks previously said it sets itself apart by focusing on digital content distribution.
 
It raised US$8 million in series B funding from Company K, NeoPlux, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Atinum Investment in late 2014.

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