Infotrieve

About Infotrieve

In 1987, long before the internet made information instantly accessible, Peter Derycz founded a company in Los Angeles to solve a critical problem for researchers and corporations: getting their hands on published scientific, technical, and medical articles. This was Infotrieve, a document delivery service built to navigate the complex world of academic journals and copyrights. The business provided an efficient way to identify, retrieve, and pay for literature, essentially acting as a specialized librarian for organizations with heavy R&D departments. As the company grew, it moved beyond simple document delivery into a full-fledged information management service. It developed software platforms like Mobile Library and Virtual Library, which allowed clients to manage their own content, ensure copyright compliance, and analyze usage. The company also expanded its services to include outsourcing, placing Infotrieve employees directly inside corporations to manage their information centers and libraries. The company's journey included a significant transition in 2003 when the founders sold it to private equity interests. This was followed by multiple funding rounds to fuel its growth and technological development. The final chapter for Infotrieve as an independent entity was written in November 2014. Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), a major player in rights licensing, acquired Infotrieve for approximately $21.1 million. The acquisition was a strategic move, combining Infotrieve's powerful content workflow and document delivery technology with CCC's extensive copyright licensing expertise. This created a single source for enterprise customers to access, manage, and license content, closing the book on Infotrieve's story but integrating its services into a larger ecosystem.