Spines, an agentic AI (artificial intelligence) publishing platform announced from Tel Aviv, Israel and New York, has raised US$64 million in growth capital to expand its services for authors turning manuscripts into published books.
Funding package#
The financing has two parts:
- US$29 million Series A-1 equity round, led by Zeev Ventures, with participation from Aleph, NordStar, M-Fund, LionTree and angel investor Dan Senor
- US$35 million non-dilutive growth financing facility from Twelve
Revenue and author growth#
Spines says it has reached a US$50 million revenue run rate, with 400% year-over-year growth. More than 8,000 American authors have published books using the platform, and around 400 new authors join each month.
How the platform works#
Authors bring their own manuscripts and use the platform to manage the full publishing process. Specialised AI agents handle tasks including:
- Editing and proofreading
- Cover design and formatting
- Metadata and translation
- Audiobooks, distribution and royalty management
- Marketing
Authors can also work with Spines’ in-house human editors, proofreaders, designers and native-speaking language professionals.
Spines distributes books through more than 100 global channels. A centralised royalty management system shows authors what their books earn across channels and markets, and sales are tracked across platforms. The company says the process, which traditionally took 12 to 18 months, now takes a matter of weeks.
Investor and founder statements#
Oren Zeev, Founding Partner of Zeev Ventures, led the round. Zeev is an early investor in Audible and a longtime investor in technology companies.
“Spines has all the ingredients to become the category leader in the next generation of publishing. I’ve seen it first-hand; a close friend of mine published his book with Spines and had a great experience. I believe Spines can become the go-to platform for authors around the world to publish their books and reach readers.”
Aleph led Spines’ seed round and also took part in the Series A and the current Series A-1. Michael Eisenberg, Aleph Co-Founder and General Partner, who has written nine books, said:
“Spines’ growth since our seed investment has been extraordinary, and it’s clear that authors are hungry for this kind of AI-powered publishing solution. As an author myself, I know that writing the manuscript is only the first step in bringing a book into the world. Everything that comes afterward can be slow, fragmented and frustrating. What attracted me to Spines from the beginning was the opportunity to use technology to remove that friction without removing the author from the process. AI should amplify human creativity, not substitute for it, and Spines is building the infrastructure to make that possible at global scale.”
Yehuda Niv, founder and CEO of Spines, said the company’s approach starts with the author.
“We don’t believe the future of publishing is AI writing books. We believe the future is AI giving authors superpowers. The writing, the story and the knowledge come from the author. Our job is to build the technology and infrastructure around them; to help more people discover the author within themselves, turn their work into a professionally published book, and ultimately find and reach its audience.”
“For most of publishing history, gatekeepers decided who was worthy of becoming an author and which stories deserved to reach the world. Anyone with a story, an idea or knowledge to share deserves the opportunity to publish it. Our role is to give creators the tools, infrastructure and reach to find the audience for their work. To me, that’s the real promise of AI in publishing: not replacing writers, but removing barriers so that anyone with a talent for writing can become an author.”
About Spines#
Spines is an agentic AI publishing platform that helps authors turn original manuscripts into professionally published books and reach readers worldwide. Its publishing operating system combines specialised AI agents with access to human publishing professionals across editing, proofreading, design, formatting, translation, audiobook production, distribution, marketing and royalty management. The company works with thousands of authors and distributes titles across more than 100 channels worldwide.
