Work & Business
Is Readly Ready To Take Over?
Spotify has changed the way we stream music.
Another Swedish company, Readly, wants to do the same for magazines. Haven’t heard of Readly? Here’s a primer to catch you up.
What is Readly?
Readly, started in 2012, allows you to read a wide range of magazine titles from the convenience of your smartphone or tablet. Users pay a monthly subscription to gain unlimited access to nearly 5,000 magazine titles. New users can try it for a month for 99 cents.
How popular is it?
According to its 2019 Readly Report, 83 million digital magazine issues were read on its platform in 2019, and Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden are its core markets. Readly was the second-fastest growing company in Sweden in the Financial Times 1000 Fastest Growing Companies in Europe – it was ranked in the Top 200 in all of Europe in the list released in March of 2019.
Doesn’t Apple+ do something similar?
Yes, but Readly doesn’t seem to mind the competition, which was highlighted by The Financial Times late in 2019. The company reported in 2019 that two-thirds of its revenue comes from outside of Sweden. And it continues to attract outside capital, most recently a $15 million ($16.2 million U.S.) round in 2019 that came on the heels of a $12 million round in 2018.
Who’s leading the company?
Maria Hedengren joined Readly as CEO in April of 2019. She previously served as the CFO of iZettle and played a role in the Swedish financial technology firm’s sale to PayPal for $2.2 billion.
Interested in finding out more? To see if your favorite magazines are part of the Readly portfolio or to learn more, visit Readly.
