eBook store 'Ridibooks' just announced an $8 million investment from Neoplux, Atinum Investment, Company K Partners, and Mirae Asset Ventures.
Ki-sik Bae, a representative from Ridi Corporation has gained notoriety in the local publishing market as he has consistently been dedicated to returning around 75% of the profits from sales on his platform to the writers since 2008. This was around the time that the first iPhone was released.
During a previous interview with beSUCCESS in 2012 Bae mentioned that "in large scale bookstores, eBooks are not a part of the main business model, so it is inevitable that there are gaps in level of service offered. I came to the conclusion that the eBook business is more of an IT concern, than a publishing concern, so I thought we would have a better chance positioned as an IT company."
The value and foresight of these early choices have now been proven. Ridibooks now has the largest volume of eBook content in their market segment and holds over 40% market share in the domestic eBook market. Also by opening the website, 'Ridishop,' to sell other eBook hardware, they are now on course to develop additional revenue streams. This is a key factor in their ability to have attracted investment
After very rapid growth, Ridibooks has acquired 1,600,000 members and has achieved an impressive 32,000,000 book downloads in 2014 alone. Estimates on Ridibooks' total sales for the year stand at around $20 million USD.