Digital magazine subscriptions business Readly has secured €15 million in funding from Swedish and UK investors.
The round was led by the Third Swedish National Pension Fund (“AP3”), London-based Zouk Capital, and Swedbank Robur, with participation from other existing and new investors.
Founded in 2012 Readly provides its customers with unlimited access to local and international publishers both in the UK and globally.
Its UK titles include FourFourTwo, Cosmopolitan, and Hello!. Currently the firm is active in Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States, Ireland, and Italy.
With a presence in 8 key European countries and the US, Readly generates more than two-thirds of its revenues outside its Swedish headquarters.
The firm said the funds raised will predominantly be used to fuel continued expansion in current European markets.
“The magazine publishing industry is only just starting to move from offline to online, and we expect the digital penetration of magazines to reach that of other media verticals, such as music and film,” explained Maria Hedengren, CEO of Readly.
“For this next step of our growth journey, we are very glad to have the continued support of our existing investors and now also the addition of such an experienced investor as AP3. This is testament to how we have managed to build confidence in the business model, team, and the market”.
In May 2019, Readly launched its service in Italy and further strengthened the content portfolio, which now includes over 4,000 titles.
ABG Sundal Collier acted as financial adviser and Sole Global Coordinator in the transaction and Baker McKenzie as legal adviser.