eLibro

What eLibro does

eLibro Corporation is a private digital academic library platform founded in 1999 and headquartered in Aventura, Florida (Miami area), with sales operations in Miami and Madrid. The company aggregates 220,000+ academic titles from 570-800+ publishers across Spanish, English, and Portuguese into a web and mobile (iOS/Android) platform accessible to subscribing institutions through simultaneous multi-user access, 30-day renewable digital loans, offline reading, MARC records, and SSO/LMS integrations (SAML, Shibboleth, OpenAthens, Ezproxy, LTI, OpenURL). The product portfolio is organized into five content collections (Cátedra, Secundaria, English, Investigaciones, and the Bibliotele audiovisual platform accessible on smart TV and Apple Vision Pro) plus a feature stack that includes an in-reader AI assistant (eLi), AI-powered translation, text-to-speech, and automatic bibliographic citation.

Revenue is generated exclusively through institutional subscriptions sold via a network of country representatives in 24+ countries (Latin America, Spain, USA, Germany, Equatorial Guinea), with no direct-to-consumer channel. Pricing is quote-based and annually billed. A secondary revenue line, the Unidad iIA (AI Innovation Unit), monetizes AI services through free introductory micro-courses, paid specialized courses (US$56-$140 per participant), and AI implementation consulting engagements starting at US$2,800 across four modalities (4-week sprints to 12-month programs). The company has approximately 11-50 employees — including named leaders Eduardo Varela-Cid (Founder/CEO), María Varela-Cid (CFO), David Padilla (COO), and Douglas Ortega (CTO) — and operates as a founder-owned private company with no disclosed institutional funding. eLibro reports 3,500+ institutional customers and 7+ million active users across its 24-country footprint.

Name

eLibro

Legal name

eLibro Corporation

Website

https://elibro.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

eLibro is a private digital academic library platform serving 3,500+ universities, libraries, and institutions across 24+ Spanish-speaking and other countries, delivering 220,000+ titles from 570+ publishers via subscription, with mobile access and an emerging AI services unit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Academic Library Platform

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Software Publishers (5132), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Educational Services (8200), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing) (EDAEAGAF)

Keywords

• Academic digital library
• Institutional subscriptions
• Digital content platform
• Library SaaS
• Online academic content

Headquarters

HQ city

North Miami Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Institutional Subscriptions: eLibro operates exclusively through institutional subscriptions. Academic institutions, libraries, and research centers subscribe to access the digital library. Access is managed via country representatives who provide tailored quotes based on institutional needs, collections subscribed, and user count. No direct consumer sales.
2. iIA AI Services — Specialized Courses: Fee-for-service training courses on AI for libraries. Specialized courses range from US$56 to US$140 per participant, with group discounts available. Revenue recognized per participant enrolled.
3. iIA AI Implementation Consulting: Custom AI implementation consulting for libraries, with pricing starting from US$2,800 for implementations covering up to 50 people. Four modalities ranging from 4–6 week sprints to 9–12 month programs. Full knowledge transfer model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

eLibro operates an institutional-subscription digital academic library platform providing simultaneous multi-user access to 220,000+ academic titles from 570+ publishers in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. The platform is accessible via web and native iOS/Android apps, with offline reading, AI-powered reading assistance (eLi), and supporting library systems integration (MARC, LTI, SAML, OpenURL). The company also operates a dedicated AI Innovation Unit (iIA) offering training courses and AI implementation services for libraries.

Product overview

eLibro is a digital academic library platform designed for educational institutions, libraries, and research centers. The platform operates on an institutional subscription model offering simultaneous multi-user access to academic content. The product portfolio includes the core eLibro platform, mobile app (Lector eLibro), five themed content collections (Cátedra with 160K+ titles, Secundaria, English, Investigaciones, and Bibliotele for audiovisual content), and the AI Innovation Unit (Unidad iIA) providing free micro-courses, paid specialized courses, and AI implementation consulting services. The platform integrates AI features including the eLi assistant for content queries, text-to-speech audio, and translation. Content spans 800+ publishers in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, serving 3,500+ institutions across Latin America, Spain, and non-Spanish-speaking countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bibliotele: Digital audiovisual platform for academic libraries featuring Spanish-language films, series, documentaries, and theater content. Accessible at bibliotele.com.
• Unidad iIA
• eLi

Products and services

• eLibro Platform (Biblioteca Digital Académica) Core digital academic library platform offering institutional subscriptions for simultaneous multi-user access to 220,000+ academic publications from 570+ publishers in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Accessible via web browser or dedicated mobile app with online/offline reading and automatic device synchronization. Targeted at academic institutions, libraries, and research centers.
• Lector eLibro Mobile App Free native mobile application for iOS and Android enabling offline reading with book loans downloaded for 30 days with unlimited renewal. Synchronizes reading progress, annotations, and bookmarks across devices. For institutional users (students, faculty, researchers) at subscribing libraries.
• Colección Cátedra Core academic content collection with 160,000+ books from 500+ publishers, adding 800+ new titles monthly. Organized into 14 thematic collections covering all academic disciplines. Features include partial downloads, 30-day digital loans, and content sharing among institutional users. For higher education institutions and universities.
• Colección Secundaria

Quantifiable outcome

• 220,000+ academic titles available across 14 subject collections
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration16 records

AI capability13 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• REBIUN (Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Principal sponsor of the XXXIII REBIUN Annual Conference and XXI Workshop on Digital Projects, May 2026, at Campus de Albacete (UCLM), Spain. Also incorporating Planeta and Anaya editorial content. Active involvement in presenting eLibro's present and future, with focus on AI as an ally for university libraries.
• PearsoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 September 2025Strategic alliance between eLibro and Pearson to expand academic resources available to subscribing libraries. Francisco Ortega represented Pearson at eLibro Paraguay 2025 event, discussing the relevance of specialized bibliography and the partnership's role in expanding library resources.
• LVI Journadas Mexicanas de BiblioteconomíacoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 May 2025eLibro was a sponsor of the 56th Mexican Library Science Conference held in Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico. Key professional event for the Mexican librarian community.
• Universidad AAUCA (Guinea Ecuatorial)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2025First university in Africa to subscribe to eLibro's digital library, marking eLibro's entry into the African continent. Managed through representative Mariano Ureta (Spain and Africa). Represents the first digital library deployment in Africa for the company.
• WileycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWiley is a key publisher in the eLibro English collection, contributing 8,618 academic titles covering Architecture, Sciences, Computing, Education, and Medicine. Wiley is a world leader in research and education with over 200 years of history.
• Wolters Kluwer HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublisher in eLibro English collection with 1,829 available publications covering clinical decision support, drug information, clinical documentation, nursing, and medical research.
• Cambridge Scholars PublishingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent academic publisher founded by former Cambridge University professors and researchers. Contributes 8,432 titles in Humanities, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Life Sciences to the eLibro English collection.
• SAGE PublishingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal academic publisher contributing 1,906 titles to the eLibro English collection, covering Social Sciences, Humanities, Health and Biomedicine, Engineering, and Computing. Produces more than 1,000 journals and 900 new books annually globally.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Odilo: Odilo is a digital library platform providing ebooks, audiobooks, and other content to public and academic libraries globally, including significant presence in Spain and Latin America. Directly comparable to eLibro in serving Spanish-speaking institutional clients with subscription-based unlimited-access models.
• ProQuest (Clarivate): ProQuest, now part of Clarivate, is a leading provider of academic ebooks, journals, and dissertations to university libraries worldwide. Directly comparable to eLibro in serving institutional subscriptions of full-text academic content, though at a vastly larger scale and with English-first content orientation.
• JSTOR: JSTOR operates one of the largest digital academic library platforms, providing access to scholarly journals, books, and primary sources to academic institutions. Comparable to eLibro in target customer (academic libraries), institutional subscription model, and content aggregation approach.
• Digitalia: Digitalia is a digital content aggregator distributing Spanish-language ebooks and academic content to libraries in Spain, Latin America and the US. Closely comparable to eLibro in language focus, publisher aggregation model, and institutional subscription GTM.
• EBSCO Information Services: EBSCO provides academic ebook and database subscriptions to libraries and schools globally. Closely comparable to eLibro in business model (institutional subscription sales through field representatives) and target buyer (academic and K-12 libraries).

Emerging players

• Scribd: Scribd operates a subscription-based digital reading platform with ebooks, audiobooks, and academic content. Comparable to eLibro in subscription access to a broad ebook catalog, but operates as a B2C consumer platform with broader (non-academic) content focus.
• Perlego: Perlego is an online academic and professional ebook subscription service targeting students and professionals globally. Comparable to eLibro in offering unlimited access to a large academic ebook catalog on subscription, though primarily B2C/individual rather than institutional.

Regional players

• Redalyc: Redalyc is a Latin American open-access scientific journal system indexing journals primarily from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. Adjacent to eLibro in serving the Spanish-speaking academic research community with a regional focus, though differs in its open-access non-subscription model.
• SciELO: SciELO is a cooperative digital library of open-access scholarly journals primarily from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. Comparable to eLibro in serving the Spanish/Portuguese-speaking academic research community, but operates as open access rather than subscription-based.

Broad incumbents

• Gale (Cengage): Gale, part of Cengage, is a major academic publisher and provider of digital research databases, ebooks, and learning resources to libraries. Comparable to eLibro in serving academic institutions with subscription digital content, though as a broader incumbent across many content categories beyond Spanish-language.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/mundoelibro
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/medejean
• Xx.com/eLibro_com

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about eLibro