British edtech company Perlego has raised $50m (£38.2m) in a Series B funding round for the global expansion of its textbook subscription service.
Dubbed “Spotify for textbooks”, Perlego provides university students with ‘unlimited access’ to 800,000 textbooks in six languages.
London-headquartered Perlego says this model helps publishers recoup losses from pirated textbooks while also making educational resources more affordable for students.
Perlego will use the proceeds of its Series B funding to attract more users in the US, which currently accounts for 40% of its customer base.
Globally, it has more than 400,000 users hailing from 6,000 institutions in 172 countries.
Founded in 2017, Perlego provides university students with “unlimited access” to 800,000 digital textbooks in six languages.
The latest round was led by Mediahuis Ventures, with participation from Raine Ventures, and Evli Growth Partners.
It brings Perlego’s total funding to more than £45m. Previous rounds include a £7m in a Series A funding round in November 2019, and £3.7m in a seed round in 2018.
“We’re meeting learners where they are, online, while helping the publishing industry move to digital in a way that works for them,” said Gauthier Van Malderen, CEO of Perlego. “This investment will help us bring our platform to more people and give them important additional learning tools.”
Remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of edtech companies – and the levels of investment that they have received.
In 2020, London became the leading edtech hub in Europe, attracting the most investment in the continent.
As of November 2021, the UK edtech sector is valued at an estimated £3.2bn.