Online textbook subscription service Perlego raises $50m funding

Online textbook subscription service Perlego has raised $50m (£38.2m) which it says will help it accelerate its growth globally, particularly in the US.   

The Series B funding was led by venture capital fund Mediahuis Ventures, with participation from investment groups Raine Ventures and Evli Growth Partners. Series B funding is used to grow a company that has already developed a substantial user base so it can meet these levels of demand.  

The round includes a syndicate of strategic publishers as well as angel investors such as learning platform Kahoot’s founders Jamie Brooker and Johan Brand through their We Are Human fund.  

With this funding, Perlego said it will accelerate its growth globally and especially in the US, where students are struggling with the rising costs of education, remote learning and course completion. 

Perlego provides university students with unlimited access to content and study tools by aggregating global publishers in an all-you-can-read subscription model. It now offers 800,000 textbooks in six languages from 5,000 of the world’s top education publishers, including Cengage, Routledge, Cambridge University Press, Elsevier and Harvard University Press. Perlego grew its library of textbooks by 166% in 2021, making it the world’s largest available by subscription.

It has 400,000 users from more than 6,000 institutions in 172 countries, 40% of whom are in the US. In the last year alone, Perlego says it saw 450% subscriber growth. 

Gauthier Van Malderen, c.e.o. of Perlego, said: “We built Perlego to help make learning more accessible and affordable for all. We’re meeting learners where they are, online, while helping the publishing industry move to digital in a way that works for them. This investment will help us bring our platform to more people and give them important additional learning tools. With deep experience in helping technology companies grow, we’re thrilled to be working with the Raine Group and Evli, and to continue our partnership with Mediahuis Ventures.”    

Paul Verwilt, chief operating officer at Mediahuis, added: “Perlego is changing the equation for university students, helping them access course resources, while also enabling publishers to move online and harness new revenue opportunities. We’ve watched the company soar since our first investment, and are excited to double down on our commitment to the company in their Series B. Making independent information accessible to society is at the heart of what we do. Mediahuis is pleased to extend its mission further into higher education.”