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Copper Books is a publishing services organization based in an undisclosed location that assists entrepreneurial thought leaders and authors in writing, publishing, and selling their books. The company operates on a service-based business model, charging clients for comprehensive administrative and creative support throughout the entire publishing lifecycle. These core offerings encompass targeted marketing campaigns, public relations management, and strategic podcast launches designed to maximize reader engagement and expand commercial reach. By positioning the author as the central focus of the production process, the firm aims to facilitate transformative impacts for targeted reader demographics. Specific operational metrics, including total funding raised, current valuation, and employee count, remain undisclosed, alongside the identities of any lead investors or notable customers. The organization's founding year and the names of its original founders are not publicly available at this time.
Copper Books has raised $5.5M across 2 funding rounds.
Copper Books has raised $5.5M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Copper Books has raised $5.5M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $2.5M Copper - Pre-Seed in May 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2022 | $2.5M Pre Seed | Wave Capital | Adam Grant, Claire Diaz Ortiz, Daniel Schulman, Fran Hauser | Announced |
| Jun 1, 2021 | $3M Seed | — | Baron Davis, KAT Cole | Announced |
Copper Books is a social platform connecting authors and readers to foster community around books, enabling discussions, live events, and new monetization for writers.[1][2] It builds a mobile app—described as "the Instagram for book lovers"—where authors host ticketed FaceTime-like discussions, text-based forums, and engage fans to drive book sales, while offering free access with premium features planned.[1][2] The app serves published authors (many already onboard during beta) and avid readers, solving the challenge of building author platforms and direct reader connections in a fragmented publishing landscape.[1][2] In 2022, it raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding, launched from private beta with a 6,000-user waitlist (half authors), and demonstrated early traction with hundreds of authors active.[1]
Founded by Allison Trowbridge, an author and former human rights/impact investing professional, Copper Books emerged from her personal frustrations in publishing.[1][2] After publishing *Twenty-Two* with HarperCollins in 2017 while completing her Oxford MBA, Trowbridge struggled to connect with readers and build a platform, inspiring a "modern solution" during business school.[2] Her background in witnessing books spark the anti-slavery movement fueled her passion for books' transformative power, leading to Copper's creation as a social network for authors and fans.[1][2] The team, spread across the U.S. and beyond, consists of avid readers, aspiring authors, and book enthusiasts united by a mission to create magical connections around content.[2] Key early support came from advisor Adam Grant and investors like Wave Capital and Fran Hauser.[1]
Copper Books rides the creator economy wave in publishing, where social media and direct-to-fan models challenge Amazon's dominance by empowering authors with owned communities and revenue streams.[1] Timing aligns with rising demand for niche social networks post-pandemic, as readers seek authentic interactions amid content overload—evident in its rapid beta traction.[1] Market forces like hybrid publishing growth and live audio/video trends (e.g., Clubhouse influences) favor it, while venture backing from faith-motivated ecosystems like Praxis positions it to influence redemptive, impact-driven content.[3] By humanizing authors and boosting discoverability, it shapes the ecosystem toward more equitable reader-writer dynamics, potentially accelerating book-driven social movements.[2]
Copper Books is poised to scale its author-reader network, prioritizing user acquisition to sustain community momentum beyond beta, with premium features and expanded events as key growth levers.[1] Trends like AI-assisted writing tools and Web3 fan economies could amplify its hybrid model, while deeper integrations (e.g., e-commerce, global events) might solidify its "Instagram for books" vision.[1][4] Its influence may evolve by nurturing bestselling creators and transformative content, circling back to Trowbridge's founding spark: harnessing books' magic for real-world impact through tech-enabled connections.[2]
Copper Books has raised $5.5M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Copper Books's investors include Wave Capital, Adam Grant, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Daniel Schulman, Fran Hauser, Baron Davis, Kat Cole.
