Jordanian E-Book Platform Abjjad Raises $1 Million in Series-A Funding Round

As part of its efforts to spearhead an increase in online availability of Arabic content and literature, Jordanian e-book platform, Abjjad, is looking to expand its library and grow its user base, after raising a $1 million Series-A round. Led by Jordan’s Rimal Capital, JordInvest and the Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF), the investment will supplement previous investments in the platform as both product and technology.

The literary platform provides users with unlimited access to over 6,000 Arabic e-books and novels, doubling up as a space in which they can also rate, review, follow their favourite authors and more. As it currently stands, the platform hosts 1.5 million registered readers and writers, with a subscription cost of $5.99 per month.
Other than the goal of improving accessibility to Arabic e-books, Abbjad  – founded by IT, digital marketing and market research expert, Eman Hylooz in 2012 – also works towards supporting emerging authors in gaining readers, while offering at-risk traditional publishers a new tech-fuelled avenue, propelling the shift from pirated PDF versions of books to user-friendly copyrighted versions. The platform – which is an Oasis 500 portfolio company – currently hosts a myriad of books ranging from fiction, to biographies, to self-help books and novels that have been translated into Arabic, such as George Orwell’s 1984 or Paul Arden’s self-help bestselling book Whatever you Think, Think the Opposite.

With Arabic content accounting for as little as 3% of online content, Abjjad’s goals are certainly ambitious, but Hylooz and co. are hoping to hit a milestone of 20 million users across the region.