The App That Will be a Household Name in 2020
Nowadays, Blinkist is a successful app, but it wasn’t always that way. In the summer of 2014, the founders—Niklas Jansen, Tobi Balling, Sebastian Klein, and Holger Seim—tackled their toughest challenge: facing bankruptcy and telling their employees they couldn’t afford to pay them.
Fast forward six years and it’s hard to believe that the Blinkist we see today is the same app. Now, it has 13 million users in over 200 territories and is on track to be a household name in 2020.
The app gathers key insights from the best nonfiction books, so you can learn from them in 15 minutes or fewer.
It was featured over 500 times by the App Store in 2019 alone and Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, is a fan. He even visited the Blinkist office in Berlin to see what all the fuss was about.
Impressed with the growing and talented team at @Blinkist. Helping everyone understand and experience some of the best non-fiction books is a great example of how a single idea from college can evolve into a solution for a problem we all share — too little time! pic.twitter.com/8rRrms7BMY
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 30, 2019
And the team at Blinkist are set on reaching even more people in 2020.
– Holger Seim, CEO of Blinkist
Here’s why the CEO of Blinkist thinks this is the year the app will become a household name.
Blinkist Helps People Finally Read More
‘Read more’ is a common New Year’s resolution. In fact, a survey by Inc. found that reading more was one of the top 10 most common resolutions for 2019.
So, what’s stopping people from reading more books? Most often, it’s the lack of time.
That’s exactly how Blinkist co-founder Sebastian Klein felt. After university while working, he found it hard to fit reading into his life. But he remembered his time at university where he’d read nonfiction books and make notes on the best insights. He’d then email these notes to friends so that they too could see the top lessons from each book.
This is how the first Blink—a 15-minute explainer of a book—was born.
Now, the app offers key lessons from over 3,000 titles in over 27 categories. Not only can those wanting to read more access these insights in 15 minutes or fewer, they can also spend less time hunting down recommendations and get a better idea of what a book is about before reading it in full.
– Karen Trepte, Huffington Post
The UN, Apple and Google are Fans
Blinkist is rapidly growing its user base but it’s also being recognized by huge organizations.
It received the Android Excellence Award and Apple named it as one of the 20 top apps for lifelong learning.
It’s even been praised by the UN; they awarded Blinkist the World Summit Award in the Learning and Education category.
As more organizations get to know Blinkist, more people are, too. It’s not just an app to waste time with on your commute; it’s helping people access the best of nonfiction and fit learning into whatever time they have available.
— Holger Seim, Co-founder and CEO of Blinkist
The Microlearning Industry is Set to Explode
Microlearning is a trend that’s seeing people harness the smallest pockets of time in their day for learning something new. And it’s a trend that’s growing.
According to new research from MarketsandMarkets, the microlearning market size is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2019 to $2.7 billion by 2024.
Blinkist is the app that’s at the forefront of this revolution; the user base grew by 50% from 8.5 to 13 million in 2019 alone.
— Carlos Alvarado, Senior Brand Manager at Blinkist
As the trend picks up speed, 2020 will see more people hungry for self-development and looking for bitesize lessons they can fit into their day. Now, there’s a way to access the best ideas from nonfiction, in less time, all with an app.
Blinkist is Backed by Big-Time Investors
That dark day where Blinkist was facing bankruptcy is long gone. Now, the app has raised over $35 million in fewer than six years.
The app has received backing from some major players in the startup scene. VC firm Venture Insights Partners — who were early investors in Twitter, Tumblr and HelloFresh — are one such player.
Investors can see that Blinkist is going to be big in 2020 and want to be involved.
— Nicolas Wittenborn, Vice President of Insight Venture Partners, Blinkist Investor.
Download and Start Learning Today
With thousands of titles—and more being added all the time—there’s no better time to join the learning revolution. There are 13 million users who are already soaking up key insights from the best nonfiction books and fitting learning into their days.
If you want access to the world’s best authors, ideas and thinkers, all with one app, download Blinkist and start your free trial today.
