Kobo gets $50 million in cash, expands worldwide
updated 04:30 pm EDT, Tue April 19, 2011
Kobe gets $50m investment, outlines world plans
Kobo has just announced securing $50 million in investment, the majority of which came from who is only being identified as a "leading institutional investor." The rest, $13 million, came from existing investors. This money will be used to fund Kobo's international growth, said Kobo CFO Greg Twinney.
At the same time, the company said it will bring content stores to Germany, which is the largest e-book market outside of the US. It and a store in Spain are due to launch in May, while France, Italy and the Netherlands will also get dedicated stores later in the summer. Each will have local content like books, magazines and newspapers at these stores. Kobo currently has dedicated stores in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Kobo's eReading app is preloaded on the recently-launched BlackBerry PlayBook and Samsung's Galaxy Tab.
