Belgium’s Mediahuis reportedly investing €40 million in online academic books platform Perlego

In an interview with Belgian weekly Knack, Perlego co-founder and CEO Gauthier Van Malderen casually mentioned that the company had recently received new funding that included a €40 million investment from newspaper publishing and broadcast media firm Mediahuis, providing valuation of approximately €250 million. Having experienced the crushing financial reality of the cost of textbooks themselves, and witnessing firsthand the lengths that students will go to just to meet course requirements; the not-so-legal process of photocopying, or second, third, or even fourth-hand book purchases, Perlego co-founders Van Malderen and Matt Davis set out to build a better mousetrap. Via a monthly or annual subscription plan, Perlego users have access to some 800,000 titles across 900+ different topics and subtopics from over 6,000 publishers. Like many edtech businesses, the pandemic spurred growth at Perlego at a blistering pace, with Van Maldren reporting to the Evening Standard that in the 12 months following March 2020, subscriber numbers skyrocketed 1222%. Demonstrating this strong growth, the company recently celebrated the addition of its 100th team member Previous investors in Perlego include Dedicated VC, Zoopla and Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman, LoveFilm co-founder Simon Franks, Charlie Songhurst, and Brent Hoberman and Henry Lane Fox’s Founders Factory.