What began as an effort to save one local book club, has transformed into a startup whose platform connects tens of thousands of book lovers from all walks of life.
In 2017, Nancy Brown, Anna Ford and Ian Campbell founded the Richmond-based startup Bookclubz, an online platform that helps discussion groups get started and stay organized. Membership is free, and groups can customize the structure and frequency of meetings while streamlining their communications.
The trio originally tested the concept in 2015 in Philadelphia where Ford was the de facto leader of her local book club, made up of about 30 members but was experiencing a drop off in participation.
"Simplifying the logistics of starting and maintaining a club is the biggest hurdle for book club to stay together," Brown said.
Campbell, Ford's husband, was learning to code at the time and decided to build a basic website to help address some of the club's issues. In 2017, the three realized they had a potentially viable business in that site, and an official website and app aimed at helping people manage their own book clubs followed in 2019.
Earlier this year, Brown, who had been living and working in New York, came back to her hometown of Richmond for a respite during the pandemic. She said the city’s robust startup resources and community made a favorable impression on her, and the team decided to relocate the startup permanently.
"It's incredible from where I sit, having grown up here," she said. "Returning to the city and getting plugged into this specific community and seeing what the direct impact has been has really opened my eyes to all the innovation that's happening in the area."
Bookclubz was accepted into the Lighthouse Labs’ fall accelerator program, which Brown said has enabled the team to grow and stabilize the business during a time when many startups are struggling.
"It's obviously great for the business, but what's been so critical and invaluable for us is their focus on developing company founders and connecting them with resources to help them thrive," she said.
The platform currently hosts nearly 100,000 members, and Brown said the goal is to add one new feature or make one improvement each month, based on user feedback.
While they believe that book clubs are the perfect vehicle to build meaningful connections, Brown sees broader applicability for things like company engagement in using the service moving forward.
"What matters most, at the heart of it, is that people are building community and connections through stories and through conversation," she said. "It's getting people connected. That seems really critical more than ever."