Writing a book can take years. Getting it published can take nearly as long. And even after a manuscript becomes a finished book, there’s no guarantee anyone will read it.
For Boynton Beach-based Spines, that gap between writing a book and finding an audience has become a sizable business opportunity. The AI-powered publishing startup announced today that it has secured $64 million in new growth capital, as its annual revenue run rate reached $50 million following 400% year-over-year growth.
The financing consists of a $29 million Series A-1 equity round led by Zeev Ventures and a $35 million non-dilutive financing facility from Twelve. Existing investors Aleph, NordStar, M-Fund and LionTree participated in the equity round, alongside angel investor Dan Senor, the chief public affairs officer at Elliott Investment Management.
More than 8,000 American authors have now published books through Spines, with approximately 400 new authors joining each month.
For founder and CEO Yehuda Niv, those numbers suggest a growing appetite for an alternative to the traditional publishing industry, where authors can face lengthy approval processes, high costs and limited control over their work.
“We don’t believe the future of publishing is AI writing books. We believe the future is AI giving authors superpowers,” Niv said in the company’s announcement.
“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.”
That philosophy has guided Spines since its early days, although its ambitions have grown considerably.
When Refresh Miami spoke with Niv in February 2025, the company was already building a presence in South Florida, with roughly 20 of its 100 employees based in the region. Niv’s interest in publishing stretched back more than a decade, when his own frustrating experience as an aspiring author led him to build Niv Publishing, which eventually became Israel’s largest publishing house.
He later saw an opportunity to use AI to rethink how books were produced and distributed. Spines emerged from that effort, with the goal of turning what could be a 12-to-18-month publishing process into one measured in weeks.
Today, the company [the team is pictured above] is moving beyond simply helping authors get their manuscripts into print. Its platform uses specialized AI agents to handle tasks ranging from proofreading and cover design to formatting, distribution, royalty management and marketing. Authors can also work with in-house human editors, designers and other publishing professionals.
The idea is to bring the various parts of publishing under one roof, rather than requiring authors to coordinate separate providers for each step.
And increasingly, Spines is focusing on what happens after a book is published. Its distribution network spans more than 100 channels worldwide, with a centralized system that allows authors to track sales and royalties across platforms. New marketing tools help authors create and manage campaigns aimed at reaching potential readers.
The company is also making an aggressive push into international markets. Its AI-powered translation tools currently support seven languages, including Spanish, French, Italian and German, with plans to expand to 20 target languages over the next six months. Native-speaking professionals review translations to help maintain quality.
For investors, the appeal lies in the possibility of building a global publishing platform that can serve authors at a scale difficult to achieve through conventional production methods.
Oren Zeev, founding partner of Zeev Ventures and an early investor in Audible, said his conviction was reinforced by seeing the platform in action. “I’ve seen it first-hand; a close friend of mine published his book with Spines and had a great experience,” Zeev said. “I believe Spines can become the go-to platform for authors around the world to publish their books and reach readers.”
Aleph, which led Spines’ seed round and has continued investing through subsequent rounds, sees a similar opportunity.
Michael Eisenberg, the firm’s co-founder and general partner, has an especially personal perspective. Having written nine books himself, he understands the work involved after an author finishes a manuscript. “As an author myself, I know that writing the manuscript is only the first step in bringing a book into the world,” Eisenberg said. “Everything that comes afterward can be slow, fragmented and frustrating.”
Niv, for his part, sees the larger mission as changing who gets the chance to become a published author in the first place.
“For most of publishing history, gatekeepers decided who was worthy of becoming an author and which stories deserved to reach the world,” he said.
Pictured above: Spines team.
READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:
