Startup snapshot: Sweek
Sweek, a Dutch mobile platform, are working to make mobile reading and writing attractive for everyone. Here we interview Sweek co-founder, Veronika Kartovenko. Veronika is a reading fanatic and a real traveler. With a background in Business Information Management and International Business Administration, she is taking care of the business development for Sweek.
1) What exactly is Sweek?
Sweek is a mobile platform that allows everyone to write, read and share stories all over the world. In an instant and at no cost. On Sweek you can find stories from both aspiring and well-known authors, in all genres. We offer an excellent reading experience for the smartphone, allow users to save stories offline and send notifications when new updates from their favourite authors are available.
2) What problem does it solve?
First, convenience of reading anywhere, anytime. Chances are you don’t have your ereader or book with you, but you’ll always carry your smartphone. Secondly, we’re bridging the distance between the reader and the writer. Currently, a lot of writers can’t know who their readers are. On Sweek, there’s direct interaction between them. The publishing industry is having a hard time, we need stimulate growth and development by introducing new ways of reading and writing that fit the current lifestyle.
3) Who is your target market?
Although we believe the smartphone generation (15-30 years old) will be the first to use Sweek, we want to make mobile reading and writing attractive for everyone. This means we have a diverse set of content that’s interesting for different types of readers. The classics, thrillers, short stories, fanfiction, stories from top authors and much more.
4) What results do you hope to see over the next few years?
Of course, we would like to welcome many, many users to Sweek and grow our content base. We see stories from all over the world being uploaded, and both aspiring as well as top authors are joining Sweek. In a few years we want to be the platform of choice for publishers and professional authors to build their online fanbase and engage with readers. Also, we hope fresh writing talent will be discovered via Sweek by the crowd and consequently by traditional publishers.
5) What will be next for Sweek?
Many things! We’re launching our iOS app anytime now, meaning you can use Sweek on Android, iOS and web. Also, commenting is one of the first new features to be implemented. We’ll be improving our algorithms and filters, so you can directly see and find stories that you want to read. We’re also considering different spin-offs, but for now our focus is on building the best platform for mobile reading and writing.