Bratislava-based CloudTalk, which makes AI-powered software for call centres, has raised a €26m Series B (€20m in equity and €6m in debt) co-led by Dutch CVC KPN Ventures and Budapest-based Lead Ventures.
Budapest, HU – The joint effort aims to digitalize how print books get distributed to readers worldwide, ultimately providing indie authors and publishers with greater publishing power and revenue streams.
PublishDrive helped over 30,000 indies boost digital book sales: by 85% in 2020 and double that in 2021. PublishDrive will continue to meet growing demands for digital content by expanding print-on-demand (POD), audiobook, and ebook operations across pre-publication, marketing, and distribution processes.
Ábel Galácz, CEO of Lead Ventures, said, “as the book market evolves globally, independent publishing and digital solutions pave the way. With our latest investment, PublishDrive can support more content creators to manage and sell their books in a simple and cost-effective way.”
Print-on-demand (POD) is a process that prints and ships a book only when ordered. This is a sustainable model that no longer requires indies to invest in thousands of prints. In an unpredictable economy, POD eliminates rising costs tied to logistics.
POD is digital, too, an alternative to physical bookstores struggling during lockdowns. Since COVID-19, readers have drastically shifted to digital content around the globe. PublishDrive responded by entering markets like China with its digital formats. The platform currently handles over 100,000 titles in 100 countries, reaching more than 400 bookstores and 240,000 libraries including big players like Amazon, Google, and Ingram.
PublishDrive’s CEO Kinga Jentetics shared, “we want to triple book sales by the end of this year. We can do that by especially strengthening print-on-demand. Print is still the largest segment, owning about 70% of the book industry. Last year, print sales went up by 9% in the U.S. By digitalizing, print distribution will become widely accessible for debut authors to veterans and everyone in between.”
