# Perlego

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Perlego
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Perlego.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlego
> Source revision: 1357094952
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Perlego** is a [digital library](/source/Digital_library) that offers readers unlimited access to over 1.3 million academic, professional and non-fiction [ebooks](/source/Ebook). Billed as the "Spotify for textbooks" by the *[Evening Standard](/source/Evening_Standard),*[1] it is a membership-based service that allows users to read any book available in the library for the duration of their membership.[2]

Perlego offers ebooks in 8 languages: English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Swedish and Dutch, from local and international publishers. The service is available worldwide and allows users to read both online and offline on most smartphones, tablets or laptop devices.

## History

Perlego was founded in 2017 in [London](/source/London), United Kingdom, by Gauthier Van Malderen and Matthew Davis, both Belgian natives and recent university graduates.[3] Drawing from their personal experiences with the high and rising cost of university [textbooks](/source/Textbooks), and noting the convenience of accessing music and films via subscription models like Netflix and Spotify, the founders aimed to increase global access to academic resources.[4] They did this by offering students an "*all-you-can-read*" subscription model, providing a more affordable and convenient alternative to purchasing new textbooks while aiding publishers in reclaiming market share lost to [online piracy](/source/Online_piracy).[4]

In January 2025, Perlego was listed in the *[Sunday Times](/source/Sunday_Times)* ranking of the 100 fastest-growing technology firms in the UK.[5]

### Funding

Perlego was initially self-funded. Its pre-seed funding was derived from the profit made from Gauthier's previous business venture – Iconic Matter.[6] In January 2017, Perlego raised £850,000 in a round of [seed funding](/source/Seed_funding). This was led by [angel investors](/source/Angel_investor) from the UK, Belgium and France, with [Zoopla](/source/Zoopla) founder [Alex Chesterman](/source/Alex_Chesterman) and [LoveFilm](/source/LoveFilm) founder Simon Franks being notable participants.[7][8] In September 2018, Perlego raised a further £3,500,000 in a [venture round](/source/Venture_round) led by Accelerated Digital Ventures, with further participation from its existing angel investors.[6] In November 2019, Perlego closed its [Series A](/source/Series_A) fundraising round, having raised a total of £7,000,000. The fundraising was led by Charlie Songhurst, Dedicated VC, and [Thomas Leysen](/source/Thomas_Leysen) (Chairman of [Mediahuis](/source/Mediahuis) and [Umicore](/source/Umicore)), with Perlego's existing investors all reinvesting on a pro-rata basis.[9] In March 2022, Perlego closed its [Series B](/source/Series_B) fundraising round, raising $50,000,000. The round was led by [Mediahuis Ventures](/source/Mediahuis).[4] In October 2024, Perlego announced a $20,000,000 fundraising led by [Sir Terry Leahy](/source/Sir_Terry_Leahy), the former [Tesco](/source/Tesco) CEO.[10]

## Services

In 2023, Perlego's digital library contained over one million academic e-textbooks in eight languages,[11][12] covering more than 900 disciplines from [aeronautics](/source/Aeronautics) to [zoology](/source/Zoology). At the moment Perlego works with over 9,000 publishers who provide content for the service, including major academic publishers such as [Wiley](/source/John_Wiley_%26_Sons) and [Bloomsbury](/source/Bloomsbury_Publishing).[13][14]

Users can access titles via their browser on desktop computers or download an application on mobile devices where it is also possible to download books for offline reading. Study tools include highlights, making notes and the text-to-speech feature Read Aloud.[15][16] In 2024, Perlego launched two artificial intelligence tools, Smart Search and AI Researcher.[17]

Perlego partnered with the [University of West London](/source/University_of_West_London) in 2022 to provide its full catalogue to its students.[18] September 2024 saw Perlego launch a partnership with the [University of Leeds](/source/University_of_Leeds), a [Russell Group](/source/Russell_Group) member that serves nearly 40,000 students, to offer unlimited access to its digital library.[19] In 2025, Perlego launched a partnership with [Westcliff University](/source/Westcliff_University) in the US.[12]

## References

1. Heathman, Amelia (2018-09-10). ["Perlego raises $4.8 million to become the 'Spotify for textbooks'"](https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/perlego-ed-tech-spotify-for-textbooks-a3931526.html). *[Evening Standard](/source/Evening_Standard)*

1. Rowe, Adam (28 September 2018). ["How 2 Big Textbook Subscription Services Are Teaming Up"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamrowe1/2018/09/28/2-big-textbook-subscription-services-are-teaming-up/). *Forbes*. Retrieved 2019-02-18.

1. Souris, Simon (12 March 2018). ["Un Belge derrière Perlego, le Spotify du livre académique"](https://www.lecho.be/dossier/startups/un-belge-derriere-perlego-le-spotify-du-livre-academique/9991032.html) (in French). *[L'Echo](/source/L'Echo)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180312125226/https://www.lecho.be/dossier/startups/un-belge-derriere-perlego-le-spotify-du-livre-academique/9991032.html) 12 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Lunden, Ingrid (March 15, 2022). ["Perlego raises $50M to build out its vision of being the 'Spotify for textbooks'"](https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/15/perlego-raises-50m-to-build-out-its-vision-of-being-the-spotify-for-textbooks/). *TechCrunch*. Retrieved March 15, 2022.

1. Tyler, Richard (17 January 2025). ["100 fastest-growing tech companies in Britain revealed"](https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-100-tech/tech-feature/article/best-uk-tech-companies-2025-qzt9lcmnd). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. [Archived](https://archive.today/20250716095234/https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-100-tech/tech-feature/article/best-uk-tech-companies-2025-qzt9lcmnd) 16 July 2025 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Souris, Simon (19 November 2019). ["Gauthier Van Malderen, le Belge qui rêve d'un Spotify du livre"](https://www.lecho.be/dossier/portraits/gauthier-van-malderen-le-belge-qui-reve-d-un-spotify-du-livre/10183398.html) [Gauthier Van Malderen, the Belgian who dreams of a Spotify for books] (in French). *[L'Echo](/source/L'Echo)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200814233238/https://www.lecho.be/dossier/portraits/gauthier-van-malderen-le-belge-qui-reve-d-un-spotify-du-livre/10183398.html) 14 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine.

1. O'Hear, Steve (10 September 2018). ["Perlego raises $4.8M for its 'Spotify for textbooks'"](https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/10/perlego/). *TechCrunch*

1. Tobin, Lucy (1 March 2022). ["Perlego: How Cambridge-grad built 'the Spotify of textbooks'"](https://www.standard.co.uk/business/perlego-how-cambridgegrad-built-the-spotify-of-textbooks-b985031.html). *[The Standard](/source/The_Standard_(London_newspaper))*

1. O'Hear, Steve (19 November 2019). ["Perlego raises $9M Series A for its textbook subscription service"](https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/19/perlego-raises-9m-series-a/). *TechCrunch*

1. Kleinman, Mark (7 October 2024). ["Former Tesco chief takes stake in 'Spotify for textbooks' platform Perlego"](https://news.sky.com/story/former-tesco-chief-takes-stake-in-spotify-for-textbooks-platform-perlego-13229641). *Sky News*. Retrieved 2025-04-02.

1. Riley, Hannie (2023). ["Perlego, a Friend or Foe?: E-textbook Streaming Service"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377318065_Perlego_a_Friend_or_Foe_E-textbook_Streaming_Service). *Atla Summary of Proceedings*. pp. 280–291. [doi:10.31046/proceedings.2023.3363](https://doi.org/10.31046/proceedings.2023.3363)

1. Tyler, Richard (19 February 2025). ["Subscription works for music and films. It works for study, too"](https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/entrepreneurs/article/subscription-works-for-music-and-films-it-works-for-study-too-enterprise-network-6mg2k5nfj). *The Times*. [Archived](https://archive.today/20250219070330/https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/entrepreneurs/article/subscription-works-for-music-and-films-it-works-for-study-too-enterprise-network-6mg2k5nfj) 19 February 2025 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Wood, Heloise (July 4, 2017). ["Bloomsbury signs up to new 'Spotify for textbooks'"](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/perlego-joins-bloomsbury-582091). *[The Bookseller](/source/The_Bookseller)*

1. Duke, Simon (January 27, 2020). ["Perlego giving last word to Pearson, Wiley and Cengage textbooks"](https://www.thetimes.com/article/pearson-wiley-and-cengage-sign-up-to-perlego-digital-library-38kd83vlp). *The Times*

1. Mitchell, Nic (31 August 2019). ["Online fee-paying libraries tackle textbook inflation"](https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190820111340144). *University World News*

1. Martin, Andy (13 July 2019). ["Spotify for textbooks: Inside the revolutionary new book shop"](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/spotify-for-textbooks-perlego-new-books-read-shops-library-buy-a8943711.html). *The Independent*. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/spotify-for-textbooks-perlego-new-books-read-shops-library-buy-a8943711.html) 2022-05-25 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Wood, Heloise (22 April 2024). ["Digital library Perlego unveils new AI researcher tool"](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/digital-library-perlego-unveils-new-ai-researcher-tool). *The Bookseller*. Retrieved 2025-04-02.

1. ["Perlego ebook collection"](https://www.uwl.ac.uk/current-students/library/perlego-ebook-collection). University of West London.

1. ["University of Leeds Partners with Perlego to Democratize Access to Academic Resources"](https://leedsstar.co.uk/education/university-of-leeds-partners-with-perlego-to-democratize-access-to-academic-resources/). *Leeds Star*. 2024-09-26. Retrieved 2025-04-02.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Perlego](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlego) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlego?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.