Scoop inks deal with publishers from India, Singapore, Philippines; launches localized apps

Scoop, a top digital newsstand app from Indonesia, is expanding to India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines. It has launched localized iOS apps in those countries, adding titles from publishers India Today Group, SPH Magazines from Singapore, and The Philippine Star Group of Publications. The Philippines app is still pending approval.

Since starting in 2010, Scoop’s app has experienced 500,000 downloads and added a collection of over 9,000 books, magazines and newspapers. It recently signed a deal with Indonesian book publisher Gramedia, which would more than double Scoop’s existing library. The company had also received USD 770,000 in funding from Gobi Partners and Mitsui Global Investment, which was in addition to an East Ventures seed round.

While Scoop has not released monthly active or revenue figures, it revealed that 85 percent of its revenue came from iOS and the rest from Android, and the monthly average revenue per paid user for iOS is 60 percent higher than for Android.

At this moment, about 92 percent of its readers are come from Indonesia. However, Scoop’s regional expansion could dramatically change that demographic.

Scoop isn’t the only e-publisher that’s expanding across the region. Thailand’s Ookbee, also a leading player in its country, has recently agreed with Singapore Press Holdings to add over 100 magazine titles to its app.

In fact, both digital newsstand companies are in cohoots in engineering their expansions: They signed a partnership last year that would foster collaboration via knowledge sharing, securing deals from bigger publishers, and cross-marketing their products.

List of publications:

India Today Group: India Today (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Indian editions), Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Men’s Health and Good Housekeeping.

The Philippine Star Group of Publications: The Philippine Star, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Pang Masa, The Freeman, and Banat News.

SPH Magazines: 41 magazine titles from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, China and Hong Kong.