/Companies

Scribd

YC S06YC Top CompanyTop employer of YC founders · 12

San Francisco, US · Founded 2007 · Delaware corporation · 300 employees · 9 known investors

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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.

JFJared Friedman
Jared FriedmanCTOJared Friedman founded Scribd, a startup backed by Y Combinator's S06 batch, and later joined Y Combinator as a partner in 2015. He attended Harvard University.
JAJohn Adler
John AdlerCo-founder
TATrip Adler
Trip AdlerCEOformer
THTod Harmon
Tod HarmonExecutiveHe has over 25 years of experience in high-technology companies, with expertise in internet media, SaaS business models, fundraising, financial planning, and business operations.
LF
Lucas FlaglerTalent
TT
Tammy TranSenior Recruiting Coordinator
NW
Neha WadheraSenior Recruiter
SL
Shirley LeePeople Operations Specialist
GW
Ginny WatkinsSenior Recruiter

Board

GY
Geoffrey YangBoard director
PT
Peter T. JensenBoard directorExecutive Officer at Spectrum Equity
GZGeorge Zachary
George ZacharyBoard directorInvestor at CRV (Charles River Ventures)

Investors · 9

Khosla VenturesreportedMenlo Park · $100K – $20M

How we know: Wikidata · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

StartXreportedStanford · $10K – $1M

How we know: a partner's Signal profile · Not right? Tell us

Reported raises · per SEC filings

Form D private placements

$47.1M disclosed across 2 of 4 rounds · 2006–2019

▶$25MraisedNov 2019 · 7 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • 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
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
▶$22.1MraisedDec 2014 · 6 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • 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
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Scribd, 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 reported
Annual recurring revenueJan 2019$100M
Documents hostedJan 2026300,000,000 documents
Engineering organization sizeJan 2026200 people
Global audience reach cited for uploadersJan 2026140,000,000 people
Initial seed funding at Y CombinatorJan 2006$120K
IOS App Store ratingJan 20262.8 out of 5 (264 ratings)
Monthly visitorsJan 2019100,000,000 visitors per month
Paying subscribersJan 20191,000,000 subscribers
ProfitabilityJan 2019Profitable since 2017
SlideShare presentationsJan 202625,000,000 presentations
Subscription priceJan 2026$11.99
Subscription price (historical)Jan 2019$8.99
Total funding raised prior to 2019 roundNov 2019$47.8M
Visitors in first yearNov 200823,500,000 visitors

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

7 people who came through Scribd went on to found or lead other companies.

Related companies · 7

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NonuNonu provides a comprehensive hair loss treatment kit combining medical guidance, pharmaceuticals, and nutritional support for men experiencing hair loss. The offering integrates conventional medicine, Ayurveda, and nutrition-based approaches.
Le ToteLe Tote offers a subscription service that allows women to rent clothing and accessories on demand, using algorithms and customer data to personalize recommendations. The company operates across the United States and China, with its own logistics and fulfillment infrastructure.
TovalaTovala provides prepared meals delivered weekly that are cooked in a proprietary WiFi-connected smart oven, requiring minimal preparation and cooking time.
GoodreadsGoodreads is a social platform for readers to track books, share reviews with friends, and get personalized book recommendations from a recommendation engine. It serves book readers looking to discover new titles and discuss reading.
Teachers Pay TeachersTeachers Pay Teachers is a marketplace where educators share and sell teaching resources and lesson plans. The platform serves teachers and educational institutions seeking classroom materials.

Companies working in the same space as Scribd.

Timeline · 20

launches, deals, and filings
Feb 2025
New Scribd, Inc. logo adopted

source ↗

Jan 2025
Social reading app for book club communities

Wikipedia records a 2025 social reading app for book club communities; Fable is listed among Scribd, Inc.'s products.

source ↗

Nov 2023
Unbundling into Scribd, Everand and SlideShare

Scribd unbundled its single product into three distinct products: Everand (a new subscription service for books, magazines and podcasts), Scribd (documents) and SlideShare (presentations).

source ↗

Jan 2023
Tony Grimminck appointed CEO

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).

source ↗

Nov 2019
Scribd raises $58M led by Spectrum Equity

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 ↗

Jan 2019
First CFO, VP of Product and VP of People hired

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.

source ↗

Feb 2018
Credit system discontinued in favor of rotating catalogs

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.

source ↗

Dec 2016
Comics removed from service

Comics were eliminated from the subscription service due to low demand.

source ↗

Feb 2016
Move to credit-based subscription model

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.

source ↗

Apr 2015
Penguin Random House audiobook deal

Deal added roughly 9,000 audiobooks to the platform.

source ↗

Feb 2015
Comics added to subscription

Scribd added 10,000 comics and graphic novels from publishers including Marvel, Archie, Boom! Studios, Dynamite, IDW and Valiant.

source ↗

Nov 2014
Audiobooks added to subscription

Scribd added audiobooks to its subscription library, described by Wired as the first subscription service offering unlimited access to audiobooks.

source ↗

May 2014
10,000 Simon & Schuster titles added

source ↗

Mar 2014
Lonely Planet library added to subscription

source ↗

Oct 2013
Unlimited e-book subscription service launched

Scribd launched an unlimited subscription service for e-books, alongside a partnership with HarperCollins making the publisher's entire backlist available.

source ↗

Dec 2009
ProQuest publishes dissertations and theses on Scribd

source ↗

Oct 2009
Branded reader for media companies

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.

source ↗

Jun 2009
Simon & Schuster e-book partnership

Scribd partnered with Simon & Schuster to sell e-books, making digital editions of 5,000 titles available for purchase.

source ↗

Jun 2009
Scribd Store launched

Scribd launched the Scribd Store, enabling writers to upload and sell digital copies of their work online.

source ↗

Mar 2007
Scribd document-sharing site launches

Scribd launched in a San Francisco apartment in March 2007 as a site to host and share documents, described as 'the YouTube for documents'.

source ↗

Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.

Legal entities · 2

corporate structure
ScribdDelaware
Scribd, Inc.

In the news

▸Research sources · 8

primary sources listed

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, Redpoint Ventures, Saints Capital, Spectrum Equity, VantagePoint Capital Partners, Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures and 1 more.
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.