Open Road Secures $11 Million
August 20, 2013
Digital-books publisher Open Road Integrated Media Inc. has secured $11 million in new financing, its chief executive said.
CEO Jane Friedman said private equity firm NewSpring Capital, based in Radnor, Pa., has invested $8 million, and that earlier investors anted up another $3 million between them.
Open Road, which sells primarily e-books of older works by such writers as Pat Conroy, Frederick Forsyth and Ruth Rendell launched in 2009 and today has about 4,000 titles. The company relies on social media and its own original author videos to promote its works.
“The biggest growth area of the publishing business is the digital side,” Mike DiPiano, managing general partner of NewSpring Capital, said in an interview. “It’s early innings, but we think Open Road is on the forefront of a lot of change.”
Open Road plans to spend the bulk of the new funds on enhancing its technology platform. It also plans to expand its efforts to bring foreign books to the U.S. while marketing English-language books around the globe.
Friedman said that the company previously raised $13 million through three separate tranches of investment. Its largest single shareholder remains Kohlberg Ventures, she said.
Recent No. 1 hits include the late Erich Fromm’s “The Art of Loving,” and the late David Halberstam’s “The Fifties,” both of which were initially promoted at a discount price on Amazon.com.