This funding round allows BibliU to continue transforming how higher education institutions make textbooks and supplementary reading materials accessible to their students in the U.K. and the U.S.
London, United Kingdom – BibliU, a digital learning platform that makes textbooks and reading materials more accessible than ever before, has secured $10 million in a Series A equity round. The investment was led by Nesta Impact Investments and included Guinness Asset Management, direct investment clients of Stonehage Fleming and ClearlySo. Nesta is the leading European early stage edtech investor which backs mission focussed businesses that seek both a social and financial return, including those which empower learners, teachers and learning institutions to make more effective use of technology and data.
Our world has changed drastically in the past few months, giving way to a generation of students demanding a level playing field regardless of their needs, and expecting their education providers to use digital services to meet them. Whether those needs are as a result of remote learning or accessibility, BibliU endeavors to deliver their class-leading content platform to more universities in the United Kingdom and the United States.
As a student at Oxford and the University of Western Australia, I would've loved to have had access to this content online for free. That's why I founded BibliU and I'm proud to say we’ve addressed that for hundreds of thousands of students at our partner universities.
We’re investing in our team and continuing to develop our institutional delivery tools. I’m also thrilled to have Sean Devine joining our board as Chairman, his experience as CEO and President of CourseSmart and Safari Books Online brings invaluable industry experience to our team.
Dave Sherwood, CEO of BibliU said.
BibliU is proud to be an innovator for higher education, building an accessible solution for modern students - ensuring that amidst a growing necessity for remote education - textbooks and research materials are accessible to every student.
BibliU will continue to invest in the digital transformation of higher education institutions, offering access to all varieties of tertiary reading content, enhanced by a first of its kind institution-wide search algorithm that empowers students to find the answers they are looking for in seconds. Its partnership with Coventry University created Europe’s largest digital content program and demonstrates BibliU’s commitment to building a digital library environment that provides accessible education and resources to every student. BibliU works with a growing list of universities, including Oxford, Imperial, University of Lincoln and more than 40% of universities in the U.K.
Oxford Sciences Innovation, BibliU’s original investor, will remain on the board and will be joined by Lisa Barclay from Nesta, offering 15 years of impact investment experience, and Sean Devine as Chairman.
Now more than ever before, education institutions have the opportunity to harness technology to deliver new ways of learning. Nesta is delighted to be investing in BibliU, to support equal access to course materials for all students.
Lisa Barclay, Investment Director at Nesta, said.
BibliU is a first-of-its kind digital learning platform that brings online course materials to life, making information accessible and searchable for students of all backgrounds. BibliU works with more than 40% of universities in the United Kingdom and with over 2,000 individual publishers to bring a complete catalogue of digital content to institutions. BibliU has raised $15m in venture capital to date and has employees in the U.S., U.K. and Australia.
Contact: media@bibliu.com
Nesta Impact Investments is part of Nesta, a global innovation foundation. Nesta has used investment as a way of supporting innovation since it was founded over 20 years ago. Nesta Impact Investments backs mission-led technology businesses that seek both a social and financial return, at Seed stage to Series A. Nesta works in areas where there are big challenges facing society, and we align our investment work with those priorities in health, education and government innovation. More information is available at www.nestainvestments.org.uk.
Read more about the funding announcement on SkyNews, here and EdSurge, here.
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We wish you all the best in the new year and look forward to what is to come here at BibliU.
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Partnership brings accessible and affordable learning resources to the college’s 13,000 students
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BibliU is a digital textbook platform that offers over 30,000 digital textbooks to students and faculty at Coventry University.
