- BookClub — a platform that was built for scaling author-led book clubs — announced that it has raised $6 million in a seed round of funding
BookClub — a platform that was built for scaling author-led book clubs — announced that it has raised $6 million in a seed round of funding. Due to shelter-in-place, political unrest, and the shifting of educational norms, people have an increased interest in finding new ways of connecting people to learn and discuss. And BookClub is the first platform built for connecting readers directly with the author to learn together and inspire life-changing conversation.
The founding team of BookClub includes Degreed co-founders David Blake and Eric Sharp along with early product leader Emily Campbell.
Maveron led the funding round with participation from GSV Ventures, Signal Peak Ventures, and Pelion Venture Partners. And Michael Levinthal also joined the round as a private investor.
BookClub plans to use the funding to establish a portfolio of authors on the platform across both fiction and non-fiction book titles, create cinematic video experiences with authors, and build a unique community platform for 1:1 interactions with authors and book groups.
The BookClub experience is expected be unlike anything available to authors and readers today. And through the platform, authors can join your personal book group, lead virtual discussion groups, share exclusive interviews, engage in video-based Q&A’s, etc.
KEY QUOTES:
“One of the surprises revealed in the data set built at Degreed is that people learn more in their lifetime from books and authors than they do from any other source, including college and professors, which makes authors the largest group of experts in the world. Where nearly every category of expert (professors, engineers, athletes, celebrities, etc.) has a platform to scale and share their expertise, authors do not. Nowhere is there a dedicated home to bring authors and readers together. Our video-based learning platform is devoted to fostering these conversations. It establishes community, allowing club members to feel like they’ve been let in on the authors’ greatest secret while writers get to share their work in an entirely new way.”
— David Blake, BookClub CEO and co-founder
“Over the past several years, online book clubs have taken off. Even celebrities like Oprah and Reese Witherspoon have jumped onboard. We are excited to scale the model in a way that gives all authors the chance to participate. Since the start of COVID, it was plain to see that it is time for a new model, one that opens up new opportunities for authors and readers. We first got to know CEO David Blake a decade ago and he is a prescient trendsetter in education—we are excited to back David and team to build a business that will delight millions of consumers globally.”
— Jason Stoffer of Maveron
