The acceleration of digital transformation is driving rapid growth in the e-book market. In particular, demand is surging for subscription-based services used for employee training and welfare at corporations and public institutions.

Beyond simply providing books, there is rising demand for customized reading solutions that help establish a learning culture within organizations and strengthen the capabilities of their members. Against this backdrop, next-generation reading platforms incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) technology are gaining attention, marking a new turning point in the B2B e-book market.

Technology recognized, stepping onto the global stage

Booktopia, Kyobo Book Centre, YES24 and Millie’s Library are the platform names that define the history of the Korean e-book industry. Lim Dong-myung, CEO of Bookers Co., Ltd., has been part of all these stages. What he has learned over more than 20 years in the B2B e-book market is clear. Despite being e-books, traditional e-libraries are built around a lending and return system and still suffer from repeated issues of concurrent user limits and waiting queues. Recognizing these structural constraints, he founded Bookers in 2020 and created a breakthrough with Korea’s first subscription service dedicated to B2B.

Bookers’ core targets are organizational clients such as corporations, public institutions, offices of education and libraries. Rather than merely serving as a content platform, it functions more as a reading management solution that designs budget utilization, usage data and reading management functions in line with each institution’s objectives. Bookers earns high marks for its UI/UX, curation and recommendation system optimized for B2B and B2G environments. This is thanks to a structure that combines the strengths of existing e-library platforms and online bookstores.

The strategy has proven sound. In November last year, Bookers received the 4th Industrial Revolution New Technology Award at the “2025 Korea SME & Mid-Market Enterprise Awards,” and in December it obtained “Innobiz” certification as a technology-innovative SME from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, formally validating its technological capabilities. Following its venture company certification, the newly secured Innobiz status is expected to serve as a springboard for business expansion by supporting R&D funding, broadening cooperation with public institutions and large corporations, and enhancing creditworthiness.

Bookers is already looking beyond the Pacific. In the U.S. market in 2026, it has begun building local references with a B2B model focused on schools and educational institutions, while in Japan it has launched full-scale market research starting this year. Its approach is notable. Instead of simple exports, the company aims to operate based on local hubs. This is the first such attempt by a Korean B2B e-book company.

Patented “AI author dialogue” to pre-empt the market

Bookers has a distinctive winning card: its “AI dialogue with authors” service. Selected as a government R&D TIPS project and currently under development, this technology has secured one of the industry’s first AI-related patents in the e-book sector, giving the company a technological edge.

The operating principle is straightforward. When a reader has a question while reading, the AI author responds through a conversational chatbot that reflects the writer’s style, way of thinking and intent in writing the book. This creates a next-generation reading experience that goes beyond simple information searches, deepens immersion in reading and stimulates creative thinking.

Bookers holds about 180,000 e-books, audiobooks and e-magazines, and strengthens its content competitiveness by consistently updating the catalogue with more than 2,000 new titles every month.

The company has maintained annual growth of over 30% in recent years and is targeting an additional 30–50% growth this year. Although it faces the burden of having to meet the expectations of investors, its own organization and the market simultaneously as a startup, its experience-centered initial team structure and strong sense of ownership among employees are serving as the foundation for sustainable growth. It is currently supplying services to around 100 public institutions and universities nationwide. In addition, it is preparing new B2C and B2BC services, experimenting with distribution structures different from its existing model. The mid- to long-term portfolio also includes developing proprietary IP and expanding into video content.

Series A funding and a push toward IPO

Bookers is pursuing Series A funding this year, with an ultimate goal of going public through an initial public offering (IPO). By securing recognition for its technology and building a foundation for overseas expansion, the company is preparing to leap forward as a listed firm. It has relocated its headquarters to Gwangju Metropolitan City and is implementing a regional co-prosperity strategy. In cooperation with Gwangju, which seeks to transform itself into an AI-centered city, Bookers is strengthening its position as a cultural and content company. Working with public institutions, offices of education and libraries, it is contributing to the spread of reading culture and the enhancement of public value, thus also playing a role in local community development.

Lim advises prospective entrepreneurs that “industrial experience matters more than ideas.” He added, “If you lack experience, collaboration with industry veterans is essential,” and noted, “Bookers, too, was able to grow quickly because experts with 20 years of experience in the e-book industry came together.” The trajectory of Bookers, where first-generation e-book expertise is converging with AI technology to expand onto the global stage, is drawing close attention.





“Phenomena such as reading difficulties or a burden toward long texts do not signal the end of reading, but rather the evolution of reading methods. If reading in the past centered on paper books and finishing entire texts, today is an era in which people consume content according to their situation via e-books, audiobooks and text-to-speech (TTS).”

Lim emphasizes that the notion of finishing a book has also changed. Rather than reading from beginning to end, modern reading is about extracting the necessary information and making it one’s own. “Functions such as note-taking, highlighting and text-to-speech improve access to reading for busy modern people. The mission of our platform is to prevent people from giving up on reading by combining AI with reading.”

Bookers is not simply a content provider but an institution-tailored reading management solution. Its differentiating features include a dashboard that allows real-time checks on budget efficiency and the reading data of actual users, services that utilize corporate clients’ CI, and book curation reflecting each institution’s specific characteristics.

Lim pledged, “To achieve this year’s goals, we will further solidify our organization and take a full-fledged leap beyond B2B to become an AI-based content technology company.”

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