Bookbot: Redefining Second-Hand Book Sales in Central Europe

Founded in 2019 and led by CEO Dominik Gazdoš, Bookbot sells second-hand books, ensuring that unwanted books quickly find new readers and owners.

Its offerings include literary classics, bestsellers, rare finds, cult comics, young adult novels, and specialist publications.

Bookbot carefully photographs each book in high quality so customers can easily assess their condition. With an organised inventory, they can prepare books for viewing or ship them immediately.

After its foundation and a rapidly unfolding success story that made Bookbot the biggest seller of second-hand books in the Czechia, Bookbot expanded to Slovakia in 2022, to Austria in the summer of 2023 and to Germany in the fall of 2023.

In total, Bookbot has sold more than 5 million books since it was founded.

While many are being sent traditionally via mail, Bookbot offers two additional ways for customers to hand in their used books: in Vienna, Bookbot cooperates with Thalia, Europe’s leading book retailer, whose stores operate as drop-off points for books, while in both Vienna and Berlin, Bookbot offers the “Book-Bote” service that picks up books directly from people’s homes during self-chosen pick-up slots in cooperation with sustainable urban logistics expert DODO.

A new €4 million Series A funding round 

Bookbot recently announced a €4 million Series A funding round at a valuation of over €20 million led by new investor Genesis Growth Equity Fund I with the participation of existing shareholder Miton.

Dominik Gazdoš, CEO of Bookbot, says, “We are convinced that in order to create a first-choice product for second-hand goods on the market, we have to be radically customer-centric. That is why we spend a lot of time speaking with our customers to identify practical and innovative technical solutions that make our service as comfortable and easy as possible.”

“We are readily equipped to accelerate growth in the DACH market and beyond and will do so through systematically erasing the pains often falsely associated with second-hand by creating a top-notch customer experience. We’re happy to have the support of Genesis and Miton on this journey.”

Reportedly, Bookbot anticipates doubling its revenue to €24M by the end of 2024, with the DACH market projected to account for 50 per cent of the company’s total revenue in 2025, just two years after its launch in the region.

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