Kalibo

What Kalibo does

Kalibo (کالیبو) is an Iranian online bookstore and content platform founded in 2020 and headquartered in Tehran near Sharif University of Technology. The company operates a WordPress-based e-commerce storefront selling downloadable PDF books across 15+ categories, with a stated library of 120,000+ titles spanning medicine, engineering, business, psychology, computer science, sciences, and humanities. Its catalog is concentrated in medical and specialized academic literature, including flagship titles such as Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy, Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, Williams Obstetrics, and Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics. Kalibo also operates a subscription-based AI translation service branded "Kalibo AI Translation" (هوش مصنوعی ترجمه کالیبو) that converts foreign-language books into Persian, alongside a companion online reader (reader.kalibo.ir) and an Android mobile application.

The business model is primarily self-serve product-led growth: customers browse and purchase digital downloads directly from the website or Android app, with prices denominated in Iranian Toman (typical list price ~200,000 Toman for standard medical textbooks, occasionally discounted to ~129,000 Toman). A freemium layer offers select flagship medical textbooks at 0 Toman as a top-of-funnel acquisition lever. The translation product introduces a recurring subscription revenue stream layered on top of the one-time book purchase model. All transactions are digital; no physical distribution exists.

Marketing and distribution are exclusively digital and organic: presence on Instagram (@kalibo.ir), Telegram (@kalibobook), and Bale Messenger (@kalibobook), alongside SEO-driven organic traffic to a content-rich category taxonomy and app store distribution for the Android application. The company holds the Iranian Electronic Trust Badge (Verification ID: 507493), is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, management team, or revenue figures, and operates as a single-country, consumer-facing platform serving Persian-speaking medical professionals, students, and academic readers.

Name

Kalibo

Legal name

Kalibo

Website

https://kalibo.ir

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Kalibo is an Iranian online bookstore founded in 2020 that sells downloadable PDF medical and academic books in Persian, alongside a subscription-based AI translation service covering 100,000+ titles for Persian-speaking students, medical professionals, and researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Bookstore / Digital Book Retail

NAICS

Book Publishers (51313), Translation and Interpretation Services (541930)

SIC

Retail-Nonstore Retailers (5960), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

eBook & Digital Reading Platforms (BPAMAJAK)

Keywords

• Online medical bookstore
• Ebook distribution platform
• AI book translation
• Persian ebook marketplace
• Digital medical textbooks

Headquarters

HQ city

Tehran

HQ country

Iran

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: One-time purchase model for downloadable PDF/ebook files across medical, engineering, business, psychology, and other specialized categories. Prices range from free (-100% discounted) to standard pricing (e.g., 200,000 Toman).
2. Translation Subscription: Subscription-based AI translation service offering access to translate over 100,000 medical and specialized books. Customers pay for translation services to convert foreign-language books into Persian.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kalibo is an Iranian online bookstore that sells downloadable PDF versions of medical, engineering, business, science, and humanities books to Persian-speaking audiences. The platform operates a WordPress-based e-commerce storefront combined with a proprietary AI translation service (هوش مصنوعی ترجمه کالیبو) capable of translating over 100,000 medical and specialized books into Persian, with delivery via direct digital download and an Android mobile app.

Product overview

Kalibo is an Iranian online bookstore platform offering downloadable PDF books across 15+ categories including medical sciences, psychology, engineering, business, mathematics, biological sciences, political science, physical sciences, computer science, architecture, and art. The platform operates as a unified e-commerce store with multiple integrated services: a core book download store, an AI-powered translation subscription service for converting English/Persian books into Persian, the Kalibo Reader for online reading, and a dedicated Android mobile application. The company claims to offer over 100,000 medical and professional books with translation capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kalibo Online Bookstore Iranian online bookstore offering downloadable PDF versions of medical and professional books across 15+ categories including medicine, psychology, engineering, business, and sciences for individual readers.
• Translation Subscription (اشتراک ترجمه) Subscription-based AI translation service providing individual subscribers access to translated medical and professional books in Persian through a recurring monthly model.
• Kalibo Reader (کالیبو ریدر) Web-based reading platform at reader.kalibo.ir that allows individual customers to access and read their purchased or translated digital books online.
• Kalibo Android App Android mobile application enabling individual users to browse the book catalog, purchase titles, and read or download content on mobile devices.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Apple Books: Apple's ebook and audiobook store integrated across iOS/macOS. Notable peer because Kalibo's lack of an iOS app creates a structural gap that Apple Books (or Kindle on iOS) fills for iPhone-owning Iranian medical students and professionals.
• Amazon Kindle: Global dominant ebook platform with Kindle devices, apps, and store. Comparable as a digital book retail/reading platform, though Kindle does not localize Persian-translated medical content and is largely inaccessible in Iran due to sanctions and payment restrictions.
• Google Play Books: Major digital book retailer and reader within Google's ecosystem. Comparable as an ebook storefront with self-serve purchase and in-app reading; relevant as the alternative Persian-speaking users without access to Iranian platforms would default to.

Emerging players

• DeepL: AI translation service known for high-quality general and increasingly domain-tuned output. Comparable as a competing translation technology, though DeepL is not medical-domain-specialized and does not bundle translated book access; relevant as the technology benchmark Kalibo's proprietary AI is positioned against.

Direct peers

• Taghche (طاقچه): Iranian ebook and audiobook platform offering subscription access to Persian digital content. Comparable target market (Persian readers, students), business model (subscription + one-off purchases), and product surface (mobile apps + web reader).
• Ketab.ir (کتاب.ir): One of Iran's largest online bookstores, selling physical and digital books across academic and general categories. Comparable as a horizontal Persian-language book retailer serving students and professionals, though with broader physical distribution.
• Fidibo: Iranian subscription-based ebook and audiobook platform serving Persian-language readers. Direct competitor in the same Persian digital book market with overlapping categories (academic, professional) and a similar self-serve consumer model.

Others

• Wolters Kluwer (Lippincott): Publisher of major medical references including Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine and clinical textbooks. Relevant as an upstream rights holder and potential licensing counterpart for Kalibo's Persian-translated medical catalog.
• Elsevier (ClinicalKey, ScienceDirect): Major Western publisher of medical and scientific content whose titles (Gray's, Netter, Williams Obstetrics, Nelson) appear in Kalibo's catalog. Relevant as the upstream rights holder whose licensing posture directly determines Kalibo's IP risk profile.
• McGraw-Hill Education: Publisher of Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry and other medical/scientific textbooks distributed in Kalibo's catalog. Relevant as a rights holder and as a model for what a legitimate licensed Persian medical content program could look like.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/kalibo.ir
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kaliboapp

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Kalibo