Rakuten invests in getAbstract

Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten, owner of Kobo and OverDrive, has acquired a substantial minority stake in getAbstract AG, the world's largest library of business book summaries.

getAbstract, based in the US and Switzerland, was founded in 1999 by Thomas Bergen and Patrick Brigger with the mission to create the world’s largest catalogue of summarised books, reports, articles, videos, and webinars. It has a catalogue of more than 14,000 abstracts across seven languages, with a global customer base including Microsoft, Audi, Burberry and Credit Suisse.

Takahito Aiki, managing executive officer and president of Rakuten, commented: “Rakuten will continue to accelerate growth of its digital content business globally and we look forward to discovering new synergies with getAbstract as the proven leader in compressed content through its extensive catalogue and B2B client portfolio."

Bergen, co-founder and c.e.o. of getAbstract, said: “getAbstract’s success is built on continuous innovation and a commitment to strong relationships with more than 450 publishing partners. With this investment and partnership with Rakuten, we are closer than ever before to realising our vision of bringing compressed digital content to communities across the globe.”