A GUNNISLAKE-based company has secured half a million pounds in investment in order to expand its operations and enter the US market.
xigxag aims to shape the future of books with the world’s “most accessible, engaging and sustainable” listen-and-read platform. It has a technologically advanced content platform, powering a market-leading mobile app.
AI-enabled technology integrates human-voice-narrated audiobooks and ebooks in an exclusive new format called the x-book. Users can listen to a book being read by the author then switch to reading it on their device, picking up the story in the same place and with the added features of being able to see illustrations, search in the text, look up words, take notes and share quotes.
Customers currently have access to over 40,000 titles from 15 publishers on the xigxag app. Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Pan Macmillan and Bonnier are among the publishers on board with more in the pipeline and plans for US expansion already underway.
Kelli Fairbrother, CEO at xigxag, commented: “xigxag is riding a massive global audio trend to power an exciting new listen-and-read experience in a space where digital books haven’t really been innovated in decades. Our revolutionary app makes reading more flexible, engaging and accessible, while also providing a far more sustainable alternative to physical book publishing and distribution. Being an eco-conscious company is something we are incredibly proud of and we are delighted to be one of the many Cornish businesses that are facilitating the change to a greener lifestyle.”
The £40m Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund provides debt and equity finance from £25,000 to £2 million to help growing small businesses across the region. It has been established by the British Business Bank in partnership with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) with support from the European Regional Development Fund 2014-20 programme.
Meg Salt, Investment Manager at The FSE Group, which led the funding round, added: “xigxag is in an excellent position within a vibrant sector. The business is committed to building the most engaging digital reading app on the market, with the potential to challenge the dominance of physical formats in the £100bn book publishing industry. We look forward to the next chapter of their exciting journey.”