Inkling, a US-based mobile communications platform backed by educational products suppliers Pearson and McGraw-Hill, raised $25m yesterday in a series E round led by venture capital firm Sapphire Ventures.
Sapphire, which was formed and spun out by enterprise software producer SAP, was joined in the round by Sequoia Capital and Tenaya Capital. The round boosted Inkling’s overall funding to $95m since it was founded in 2009.
Inkling initially operated as a publisher of interactive digital textbooks but has since pivoted to concentrate on the development of a mobile communication platform that enables businesses to deliver information to deskless employees.
The capital will be used to help the company expand its products and sales across the world. It sold its millionth licence for the platform earlier this year.
Sapphire Ventures CEO Nino Marakovic, who will join Inkling’s board of directors in conjunction with the funding, said: “Inkling’s customers have shared with us firsthand the transformational impact of the company’s technology on the lives of over a million workers.
“We look forward to helping Inkling tap into Sapphire’s own enterprise network to further enable the company to grow and improve the work lives of tens of millions more people worldwide.”
Pearson and McGraw-Hill took part in a $17m series B round for the company in 2011 alongside Tenaya Capital, which led the round, as well as Sequoia and Jafco Ventures. The company raised $15m in its last round in May 2015, according to a securities filing.