BibliU, a London-based education technology company which works with universities to provide digital access to textbooks and research materials, has raised $15 million (£12 million) in its Series B funding round led by Richard Hill, head of direct investments at Stonehage Fleming, the international family office.
The round was also backed by existing investors including Nesta Impact Investments, Oxford Science Enterprises, Guinness Ventures, among others.
The funding will be used to help Bibliu expand in the US, including through partnerships with publishers and new product development.
Co-founded by Dave Sherwood and Daniel Engelke in 2014, BiblU 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. The platform is designed to address the unique requirements of students, faculty, libraries and publishers, BibliU’s learning enablement solution features digital content management, workflow automation and analytics. With BibliU, colleges and universities can finally deliver on the promise of digitalization, guaranteeing all students have first-day access to the learning content they need.
BibliU’s mission is to enable more equitable, effective, and efficient learning for students, helps to improve student performance, satisfaction, and retention, provide a profitable and growing digital channel for publishers and reduce the admin burden on institutions through workflow automation.
Commenting on the funding, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of BibliU, Dave Sherwood, said:
“This funding will enable Bibliu to develop additional technology that further automates content management for publishers, streamline the complexities for institutions associated with managing learning content, and – most of all – support our clients’ goals to advance student success in an equitable manner.”
According to the company, it had more than trebled its recognised revenue during the last financial year, and its research had revealed that a majority of US-based students had avoided acquiring course-related content owing to its cost.
Richard Hill, Head of direct investments, Stonehage Fleming, added:
“Since our initial investment in 2020, Bibliu has experienced tremendous growth – both in the UK market, where half of the nation’s higher education students now have access to content through the Bibliu platform, and in the US, where universities and colleges are replacing legacy bookstore models with Bibliu’s digital-first solution for content.”
Hill further said:
“We believe BibliU is delivering significant impact not only through substantially reducing the costs of textbooks and course materials, but also by increasing student engagement and improving learning outcomes for students.”
In April 2020, BibliU had secured $10 million in its 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.
