Bookboon Learning is a digital learning service provider for corporate learning & development, providing

eBooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

, audio learning, online courses & learning journeys with a primarily focus on personal development and

soft skills Soft skills, also known as power skills, common skills or core skills, are skills applicable to all professions. These include critical thinking, problem solving, public speaking, professional writing, teamwork, digital literacy, leadership, pr ...

. Bookboon was originally founded in Denmark in 1988 under the name Ventus. Today Bookboon operates globally with offices in London and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. Bookboon offers free university textbooks to students and content focus lies on soft skills and personal development for bite-sized learning for professionals.

History and background

Bookboon started as a family business named Ventus in 1988 in Denmark. At that time, Ventus focused on publishing student textbooks. The owners of Ventus had two sons named Thomas Buus Madsen and Kristian Buus Madsen. In 2005, the two brothers took control of Ventus and in 2008 they re-named the company Bookboon. Soon after, the two brothers developed an innovative business model: offer free eBooks online financed by a few in-book ads, with a limit of 15% advertising space per book. The advertisers were companies looking to promote their career opportunities towards students and professionals. In 2006, the company expanded its business model to Sweden, followed by Germany and the Netherlands in 2007. In 2008, Bookboon expanded its operations to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and started publishing eBooks in English. In 2014, Bookboon launched a digital learning & development solution for businesses.

Bookboon in the media

In 2011, Bookboon was featured in

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

' ''Webscape segment'' technology show Click presented by Kate Russell.^{/sup>

In 2012, ''The Guardian

''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
s Higher Education Network published an article entitled "Academic publishing: The essential checklist for ebook authors", mentioning Bookboon. Bookboon was also featured in an article by the German newspaper Die Zeit.

In 2015, Bookboon was featured in newspapers such as the German ''Handelsblatt

The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Du ...
'' and one of its Swedish books was mentioned in the Swedish Metro.

In 2016, Bookboon was highlighted for its activities on the African continent, especially in terms of offering free textbooks for students based on employer branding. This was reported by the Danish newspaper business.dk, the German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle as well as CNBC South Africa.

References

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Online publishing companies
Publishing companies based in London
Publishing companies of the United Kingdom
Publishing companies established in 1988
Ebook suppliers
British companies established in 1988}