Booktrope, a Seattle-based startup with a platform and service for book authors, has raised $1.2 million of a planned $2.3 million funding round, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In its SEC Form D, Booktrope (under its original identity, Libertary) indicates 14 investors are part of the round, which opened at the start of this year. The startup says it had planned to close the round after raising $1.2 million, but has extended it due to investor interest. It now hopes to close the round with an additional $1.1 million by the end of May.
Katherine Sears, Booktrope co-founder and chief marketing officer, says the funding is the culmination of its participation in Y-Combinator this past winter, “where we were the oldest founders in their history.” Sears says the lead investor in the initial part of the current round was Khosla Ventures.
Booktrope’s approach to publishing — which it calls “team publishing” and some call hybrid publishing — provides authors with editorial, promotion and distribution services for both eBooks and paper books, working on its Teamtrope platform in small groups that share in revenue. Booktrope says 70 percent of book revenues go back to the creative team, and there are no up-front fees.
Co-founder and CEO Ken Shear says the proceeds will be used to help them continue their “substantial” growth, both in terms of books and revenue, and hit targets.
In 2013, Booktrope took first place at the Seattle Angel Conference, receiving a $205,000 angel investment award from the Seattle Angel Conference IV LLC. It also was a finalist at the GeekWire Startup Day pitch session the same year, and has raised money from individual angel investors in the Seattle and San Francisco areas.
