Global InformationBlendle information
 | |
| Type of business | Besloten vennootschap |
|---|---|
Type of site | News, magazines |
| Available in | Dutch, English, German |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Area served | Netherlands, Germany |
| Founder(s) | Marten Blankesteijn Alexander Klöpping |
| URL | blendle |
| Advertising | No |
| Registration | Yes |
| Users | 550,000 (December 2015)[1] |
| Launched | 28 April 2014 |
| Current status | Online |
| Native client(s) on | Android, iOS |
Blendle is a Dutch online news platform that aggregates articles from a variety of newspapers and magazines and sells them on a pay-per-article basis. The key differences to similar websites are the participation by otherwise commercially unrelated news services in a single platform and the ability for registered users to easily pay a small price per article. It has been called an "iTunes for news" and a "micropayments-for-news pioneer" in various media.[2][3][4][5]
The project was founded by Marten Blankesteijn and Alexander Klöpping.[6] Blendle was backed by a Dutch government fund during its trial phase in April 2014.[3][7] Half a year later, The New York Times Company and Axel Springer SE invested €3 million.[8] In 2018, two other investors added $4 million.[5]
The service is currently[when?] directed at customers in the Netherlands and Germany, but can be accessed elsewhere.[9] The service expanded into the United States in 2016, adding US-based publications.[1]
In June 2019, Klöpping stated that Blendle was still not profitable.[5] At that time, it had 50 employees, and had paid out €8 million to news publishers in the five years since its launch.[5] Klöpping also announced that Blendle would be changing its model to premium subscriptions instead of per-article micropayments.[5]
In July 2020, the service was sold to Cafeyn for an undisclosed amount.[10] Six months later, Alexander Klöpping resigned from the group. [11]
- ^ a b Carson, Biz (9 December 2015). "This 'iTunes for journalism' startup is coming to the US to fix the worst thing about paywalls". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ^ Hong, Kaylene (7 March 2014). "Dutch journalism startup Blendle wants to create an iTunes for newspaper and magazine articles". The Next Web. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ a b Gil, Natalie (24 April 2014). "Blendle: Dutch news platform offers money-back guarantee". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ "Niederländische Paywall: "Blendle" knackt die 100.000-User-Marke". Der Standard. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Schmidt, Christine (2019-06-10). "Micropayments-for-news pioneer Blendle is pivoting from micropayments". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
- ^ (in Dutch) "3 miljoen voor internationale groei Blendle", De Telegraaf, 2014. Retrieved on 12 March 2015.
- ^ Klöpping, Alexander (28 April 2015). "Blendle: A radical experiment with micropayments in journalism, 365 days later". Medium. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ "The New York Times Co. and Axel Springer are investing €3 million in Dutch startup Blendle". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
- ^ Blankesteijn, Marten (12 September 2015). "Pay-per-Story Platform Blendle Goes Live in Germany. With Over 100 Titles on Board". Medium. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
- ^ "Kiosques en ligne: Cafeyn achète Blendle pour former un champion européen". 30 July 2020.
- ^ "Former CEO Alexander Klöpping bids farewell to his digital news aggregator Blendle, 6 months after its acquisition; here's why | Silicon Canals". 12 January 2021.