ABM

What ABM does

ABM (Art Book Magazine) is a privately held French digital services company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Paris (25 rue des Cascades, Ménilmontant district). It operates a boutique partnership of five co-founders — Olivier Körner, Vincent Piccolo, Jean-Luc Lemaire, David Longuein, and Nicolas Ledoux — across an integrated ecosystem comprising ABM Digital (consulting, development, and digital project marketing), ABM Studio (graphic design), and ABM Distribution (digital content sales). The company serves two primary verticals: cultural institutions (museums, festivals, theaters, libraries, artist residencies) and luxury brands, with named enterprise clients including Louis Vuitton Malletier, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Christian Dior Couture, Rencontres de la Photographie, and the Académie de France à Rome (Villa Médicis).

ABM's technology estate centers on mobile and web applications built with Swift and Kotlin on iOS/Android, Node.js, Symfony, and React on the server side, with Mapbox, Firebase, and Sendbird SDK integrations. Its core proprietary products are Lisa, a universal digital reading application supporting ePub, PDF, audiobooks, and interactive content with LCP DRM protection and multi-alphabet support; Baobab, a white-label digital lending app integrated with the French Prêt Numérique en Bibliothèque system serving over 6,000 public library institutions; Lisa Business, the white-label platform underlying both Lisa and Baobab; and the Art Book Magazine digital bookstore. The firm also produces co-editions under the Art Book Magazine Éditions imprint, distributed digitally via ABM Distribution and in print via Les presses du réel, with ebooks priced €3.99-€9.99 and print editions €11-€27.

Revenue is generated through three streams: professional services (custom development for cultural and luxury clients on multi-year project contracts), product licensing (Lisa Business white-label deployments, primarily through Baobab to the French library network), and publishing (direct ebook and co-edition print sales). Pricing for custom development is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. ABM is unencumbered by external institutional investment or public listing; the 118-employee company is owned and operated by its five founding partners.

Name

ABM

Legal name

Art Book Magazine (ABM)

Website

https://abm-digital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ABM (Art Book Magazine) is a privately held Paris-based digital services firm that builds reading applications, digital publishing platforms, and custom web/mobile solutions for cultural institutions and luxury brands, while operating the Baobab library lending app across 6,000+ French public libraries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Publishing Services

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Software Publishers (5132), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

ERP, CRM & Enterprise Applications Consulting (BPAHAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Building Information Modeling (BIM) & Digital Design Services (BPAHAKAK)

Keywords

• Digital publishing services
• Cultural digital applications
• Digital reading applications
• White-label reading platform
• Digital book distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Digital publishing (Editions): Art Book Magazine Éditions publishes digital and print books on art and cultural topics, generating revenue through direct sales and distribution partnerships.
2. Digital reading applications: Lisa Business provides white-label reading solutions to organizations. Revenue generated through licensing arrangements with cultural institutions and publishers.
3. Custom development services: ABM provides consulting and development services for digital projects, creating custom applications and websites for cultural institutions and luxury brands.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ABM provides digital consulting, custom application development, and digital publishing services for cultural institutions, luxury brands, public libraries, and independent publishers. The company develops proprietary reading applications (Lisa universal reader, Baobab library lending), offers a white-label reading platform (Lisa Business), and publishes art and cultural books through Art Book Magazine Éditions across digital and print formats.

Product overview

ABM operates as a digital services company focused on reading applications and digital publishing infrastructure. Their core product portfolio includes Lisa (universal digital publication reader for ePub, PDF, audiobooks, and interactive content), Baobab (public library digital lending application for the PNB system), Lisa Business (white-label reading platform), and Art Book Magazine digital bookstore. ABM also develops custom applications for cultural institutions and museums. The ecosystem includes ABM Studio (graphic design) and ABM Distribution (digital content distribution).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Lisa: Universal digital reading application supporting ePub, PDF, and audiobook formats with interactive and accessible features.
• Baobab
• Art Book Magazine
• Lisa Business
• Art Book Magazine Éditions

Products and services

• Lisa Reading Application Universal digital publication reader application offering ergonomic reading experience for fiction, comics, children's books, art books, audiobooks, and professional resources. Supports ePub, PDF, interactive ebooks, and accessible formats with multi-alphabet support including Arabic and Mandarin. Available on iOS and Android.
• Baobab Library Reading Application Digital lending application for public libraries part of the Prêt Numérique en Bibliothèque (PNB) system aggregating over 6,000 institutions in France. Enables library users to synchronize borrowed publications on smartphones and tablets, with support for early returns and loan extensions. White-label implementation of Lisa Business.
• Lisa Business White-Label Reading Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• Serving over 6,000 public library institutions in France through Baobab
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 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

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Louis Vuitton MalletiercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Long-standing client partnership for digital application development. ABM developed and maintains the Louis Vuitton City Guide application covering 34 cities with multimedia content, offline maps, and premium editorial content.
• Louvre Abu DhabicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-publishing partnership for exhibition catalogs. ABM has produced digital editions for multiple Louvre Abu Dhabi exhibitions including Rembrandt/Vermeer, Furusiyya, 10,000 Years of Luxury, and Abstraction and Calligraphy.
• DilicomcoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with French inter-professional digital publishing infrastructure for bibliographic data exchange (ONIX standard).
• Ensad (École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for research and publication projects. Co-published Design en Regards and other academic publications.
• Les presses du réelcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistribution partner for print editions of Art Book Magazine publications.
• Agence France-MuséumsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Louvre Abu Dhabi exhibition catalog production and international museum collaborations.
• ABM StudiocoreOthersPart of ABM ecosystem. Independent graphic design studio handling visual design for ABM Digital projects.
• ABM DistributioncoreOthersPart of ABM ecosystem. Digital content distribution entity handling sales and delivery of Art Book Magazine digital publications.
• Manuella ÉditionsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-publisher for Ukraine, Fragments publication.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Huge: Global digital product and experience agency working with cultural institutions and luxury brands on apps and platforms. Comparable capability profile for custom mobile application development serving similar enterprise clients.
• Havas: French-headquartered global communications group with cultural, luxury, and creative practices (BETC, Havas Paris). Competes with ABM for cultural institution and luxury brand digital transformation mandates at greater scale.
• AKQA: Global digital experience agency serving luxury, fashion, and cultural clients (LVMH, Nike, etc.). Larger-scale competitor for enterprise luxury digital mandates where ABM competes but lacks the global delivery footprint.
• Publicis Groupe: Large French-headquartered global advertising and communications group with deep luxury (Publicis Luxe) and cultural sector practices. Functions as a broad incumbent alternative for enterprise cultural/luxury digital mandates.
• Digitas: Global digital experience network (Publicis Groupe) with luxury and brand storytelling practices. Overlaps with ABM in serving luxury maisons on digital brand experiences and content platforms at a larger scale.

Direct peers

• Bookeen: French manufacturer of e-readers and digital reading hardware/software, including library lending solutions. Comparable in geography and digital reading ecosystem focus, with overlap in serving French library digital lending customers.
• Vivlio: French e-reader brand and bookstore operating in the digital publishing space, with library lending partnerships (e.g., Médiathèques). Comparable in French digital reading market positioning and library ecosystem focus to ABM's Baobab.
• De Marque: Quebec-based digital reading platform powering public library lending systems across North America and Europe (e.g., Pretnumerique, Cantook Station). Direct functional analog to ABM's Baobab/Lisa Business stack, competing for the same public library digital lending RFPs with a SaaS white-label model.
• The Ebook Alternative (TEA): French-origin LCP DRM and digital reading platform provider licensed to publishers and libraries. ABM uses LCP DRM in Lisa/Baobab, positioning TEA as a technology standard peer whose roadmap directly affects ABM's reading application roadmap.
• BETC: Paris-based creative and digital agency (now part of Publicis) known for luxury and cultural brand work including LVMH clients. Direct competitor for premium luxury brand digital mandates that ABM wins with Louis Vuitton and Dior.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ArtBookMagazine
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/abm-soft

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 ABM