Ookbee – Cross-Country Digital Publishing Eco-system

Ookbee is positioned as a digital publishing platform. Ookbee U is dedicated to building a content eco-system, including all kinds of original content generated by users, such as comics, music, blogs, stories, and novels. Ookbee LIVE and 100 local partners launched a digital publishing platform with interface similar to the Flipboard magazine.

Ookbee is founded in 2011 as a platform for ebook services, then gradually allowed users to submit and share original content including comics, novels, short videos, and music.

So far, the Ookbee platform has over 8 million users across Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Source: Ookbee

Ookbee is the largest digital bookstore in the ASEAN region, mainly providing services in Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam, and has amassed over 6.5 million members by 2017. It’s content is mainly contributed by users, so in terms of content richness and cross-border content, there is a vast abundance of content providers. This gives the company a strong foundation for entering the e-commerce market. Since its inception, the total amount of funds raised has reached approximately US$28 million.

• Round C financing US$19 million
  [from Tencent, TripAdvisor in 2017]
• Round B financing US$7 million
  [from TransCosmos in 2014]
• Round A financing US$2 million
  [from InVent in 2012]

Source: Ookbee

• Tencent and Thailand’s Ookbee joined hands to establish a venture fund, and created a new company called Ookbee U that from now on will be responsible for content startup businesses in the Southeast Asian market. Ookbee U is committed to creating an eco-system suitable for content creation by encouraging users to create original content, and by discovering and training new talent. The company hopes that in the next three years, (2018-2020), the number of original content on the platform will exceed 1 million. In terms of original content forms, aside from text, there can also be comics, music, videos… etc.
• Ookbee U also shares close collaborations with Joox and other Tencent companies. Artists that upload music to Ookbee U and receive following will be automatically included to the Joox hall of fame. Ooknee U can help them discover star creators in the future.