Perlego, a London-based edtech startup founded by Gauthier Van Malderen, has built a subscription-based digital library offering over 1.5 million academic books to tackle the high cost of university textbooks. Supported by more than 70 million euros in funding, the platform aims to provide an affordable alternative to piracy while compensating publishers through a consumption-based royalty model.
The platform emphasizes accessibility by integrating features like a dyslexia-friendly mode, adjustable fonts, and an AI-generated text-to-speech tool covering 95 percent of its catalog. Furthermore, Perlego incorporates semantic search tools designed to help students locate specific source material directly within licensed books, balancing the need for quick information retrieval with the preservation of academic integrity and publisher copyright.
Operating in more than 180 countries, Perlego generates over 55 percent of its revenue from North America, where the average user age is in the mid-30s, indicating a strong trend toward lifelong learning and retraining. Institutional partnerships, such as a multi-year agreement with the University of Leeds, have resolved previous reading list access limitations, while a recent funding collaboration with Ithaka points to a potential future expansion into academic journals.