Scribd
YC S06YC Top CompanySan Francisco, US · Founded 2007 · Delaware corporation · 300 employees · 7 known investors
Scribd is a digital platform that provides access to millions of user-uploaded documents across diverse categories, allowing users to explore, learn, and discover information on a wide range of topics.
Also known as Scribd Inc · Scribd, Inc.
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S06)
Scribd was founded in 2007 by Jared Friedman, John Adler, and Trip Adler.
Board
Investors · 7
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$47.1M disclosed across 2 of 4 rounds · 2006–2019
▶$25MraisedNov 2019 · 7 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Geoffrey YangDirector
- Peter T. JensenDirector
- John AdlerExecutive Officer, Director
- Jared FriedmanDirector
- Offering amount
- $25M
- Amount sold
- $25M
- First sale
- Nov 2019
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$22.1MraisedDec 2014 · 6 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Jared FriedmanExecutive Officer, Director
- John R. AdlerExecutive Officer, Director
- George ZacharyDirector
- David SacksDirector
- Tod HarmonExecutive Officer
- Geoffrey YangDirector
- Offering amount
- $25M
- Amount sold
- $22.1M
- First sale
- Dec 2014
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Scribd, Inc. is an American media company headquartered in San Francisco that describes itself as an AI-powered knowledge company built on a large collection of human-created content combined with tools intended to help users move from information access to understanding and application. The company operates four platforms: Scribd, a digital document library; SlideShare, a presentation-hosting platform; Everand, a subscription service for ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, podcasts and sheet music; and Fable, a social reading product for book club communities (Wikipedia describes a 2025 social reading app for book club communities) [2][5][7].
The core Scribd service lets users search, read and upload documents across categories such as academic papers, legal documents, government documents, research papers, dissertations, medical reports, user manuals, case studies and hobby material. Supported upload formats include pdf, txt, doc, ppt, xls and docx, and uploaded documents can be embedded on external websites. Reading and uploading are available without a subscription in an ad-supported form; the paid tier adds ad-free browsing, offline downloads, AI-powered insights and complimentary access to SlideShare presentations [0][1][3][4].
Copyright management is a stated operational focus: Scribd operates under DMCA procedures with a three-strikes policy for repeat infringers and runs BookID, an automated fingerprinting system that scans uploaded documents and periodically rescans the library to remove matching content [0][1].
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 2
by search overlap
Companies competing with Scribd for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 20
launches, deals, and filingsWikipedia records a 2025 social reading app for book club communities; Fable is listed among Scribd, Inc.'s products.
Scribd unbundled its single product into three distinct products: Everand (a new subscription service for books, magazines and podcasts), Scribd (documents) and SlideShare (presentations).
Tony Grimminck, who joined as CFO in 2019, was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Scribd, Inc. (the company site states 2023; Wikipedia states he took over as CEO in 2024).
Scribd announced $58 million in new funding led by growth equity firm Spectrum Equity, intended to accelerate growth, product innovation and content acquisition.
$58M source ↗
Scribd hired Tony Grimmick as its first chief financial officer, Meghan Cochran as first vice president of product and Patsy Mangan as first vice president of people.
The credit reporting system was discontinued in favor of constantly rotating catalogs of ebooks and audiobooks with a $8.99 monthly fee, subject to occasional per-library access limits.
Comics were eliminated from the subscription service due to low demand.
Only titles from a rotating selection of the library were available for unlimited reading; subscribers received credits for three books and one audiobook per month, with unused credits rolling over.
Scribd added 10,000 comics and graphic novels from publishers including Marvel, Archie, Boom! Studios, Dynamite, IDW and Valiant.
Scribd added audiobooks to its subscription library, described by Wired as the first subscription service offering unlimited access to audiobooks.
Scribd launched an unlimited subscription service for e-books, alongside a partnership with HarperCollins making the publisher's entire backlist available.
Scribd launched a branded reader used by media companies including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch and MediaBistro.
Scribd partnered with Simon & Schuster to sell e-books, making digital editions of 5,000 titles available for purchase.
Scribd launched the Scribd Store, enabling writers to upload and sell digital copies of their work online.
Scribd launched in a San Francisco apartment in March 2007 as a site to host and share documents, described as 'the YouTube for documents'.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureIn the news
Ex-Ultrahuman Exec Raises $5.5m for Aina, a New Hardware Interface for the Age of AI Beyond Touchscreens and Keyboards - CSM - Customer Service Manager Magazinecustomerservicemanager.com · Jul 2026
Aina raises $5.5M with new hardware interface for the age of AI beyond touchscreens and keyboards | Markets Insidermarkets.businessinsider.com · Jul 2026▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Scribdscribd.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Scribd do?
- Scribd, Inc. operates a user-uploaded document library plus SlideShare, Everand and Fable on a subscription model.
- Who founded Scribd?
- Scribd was founded by Jared Friedman, John Adler, Trip Adler in 2007.
- Who are Scribd's investors?
- Scribd's investors include CRV (Charles River Ventures), Felicis Ventures, Spectrum Equity, VantagePoint Capital Partners, Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures.
- How much funding has Scribd raised?
- Scribd has disclosed $47.1M raised across 2 of its 4 known rounds.
- Where is Scribd headquartered?
- Scribd is headquartered in San Francisco, US.