You've likely heard of Amazon's eReader,
The Kindle. You may also have heard of it's upstart competitor,
Kobo, which was launched in December 2009. What you may not know is that Kobo, which was called a "global powerhouse" by
TechVibes, is headquartered right here in Toronto -- the company's ownership is led by Canadian book retailing giant
Chapters Indigo Books & Music.
According to company Marketing VP Liz Ridout, the company's strategy of open formats has led to explosive growth. Offering digital books and reading software and support for pretty much every device -- eReaders, smartphones, tablets -- on the market, including its own reader, the Kobo, the company has grown from 35 employees to 185 at its Toronto office in the past year. "We've definitely outgrown a few spaces," Ridout says.
Ridout says that for all this rapid growth, more is on the horizon, as the service will be pre-loaded on over 20 million devices sold in the coming year. "I don't see the pace of growth slowing down," she says, "we're really focused right now on developing global markets." While Ridout says the future may soon seen more offices established around the globe, the growth here in Toronto continues: the company is currently hiring 17 new staff.
Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Liz Ridout, VP Marketing, Kobo, Inc.