The YouScribe online library has announced the raising of 5 million euros ($5.7m) from the Banque des Territoires (France). The money will be used to accelerate the company’s development, particularly in Africa where it is already present in ten countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco, Mali, South Africa, Cameroon, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, DRC, Madagascar).
For 2022, seven new markets are targeted on the continent by the company. It also plans, among other things, to upgrade the YouScribe platform to make reading more comfortable, as well as to expand its collection of new works and to diversify payment methods.
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According to Maud Franca, Deputy Director of the Future Investments Program at Banque des Territoires, the support given to YouScribe results from the profound changes that the French-language book and publishing sectors are experiencing with digital technology.
“YouScribe comes to respond to the challenges that must be met collectively to provide alternative offers to the major online library platforms, often foreign; and to support publishers and authors in the French-speaking world, also thinking of the younger generations, who are very adept social networks and mobile applications users.”
According to the Demographic and Statistical Observatory of the French-Speaking Space, the number of French-speakers in the world is predicted to rise from more than 300 million now to 750 million in 2050, making French the second most spoken language after Mandarin (ODSEF). It believes that Africans will account for more than 70% of French speakers, with Africa accounting for more than 90% of young French speakers aged 15–29. However, a lack of distribution infrastructure and the high cost of a book in paper format may exacerbate residents’ limited access to reading.
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YouScribe was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award in 2013. The company was awarded the 2017 Digital Africa Challenge Prize in 2015, which was coordinated by AFD, French Tech, and Bpifrance. Finally, Orange Afrique chose the startup in 2018 to improve reading access in countries where books are not generally available.
YouScribe had approximately 700,000 subscribers by the end of 2021, up 100 percent from the previous year. The online library, which contains over one million books, audiobooks, and instructional digital materials, hopes to have several million customers by 2025, with 80% of them from Africa.
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Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer