Winner Book Club
Subscription-based book summary and interpretation service.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
$2.9m | Series B | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Originally founded as Winner Book Club (樊登读书会) in 2013 by Fan Deng (樊登), the company officially rebranded to 'Fan Shu' (帆书) in February 2023. The name change, which translates to 'Sailing Books', reflects the company's evolution from a platform centered around its founder to a broader content ecosystem, with the tagline "Life is like a sea, and a good book is a sail." Fan Deng, a former CCTV host and university lecturer with a PhD in Film Studies, started the initiative after discovering a widespread desire for reading coupled with a lack of time or patience to finish books. He began by creating and emailing PPT summaries, which eventually evolved into a membership-based club.
The company operates on a subscription-based business model, with its core offering being a yearly membership (priced at 365 yuan) providing access to condensed interpretations of approximately 50 books per year. Revenue is primarily generated through these membership fees, which constituted 60-70% of total revenue as of 2020. The business targets individuals who are motivated to learn but are time-poor, including professionals and parents. The content, delivered primarily through the 'Fan Shu' app via audio and video, distills books into key takeaways. While focused on Fan Deng's interpretations, the platform has expanded to include content from other experts and scholars.
A key component of Fan Shu's growth has been its extensive offline distribution network. The company utilizes a tiered agency and franchise model, empowering local partners to host in-person book clubs and sell memberships, for which they receive a share of the profits. This strategy has enabled deep penetration into lower-tier or "sinking markets" across China, with over 2,000 operational centers and 400 affiliated bookstores established to support offline activities. This hybrid online/offline approach has propelled the platform to over 63 million registered users by early 2023. The company has also diversified into e-commerce, online courses, and training camps.
Keywords: book summaries, knowledge-as-a-service, audio learning, subscription model, personal development, lifelong learning, content platform, Fan Deng, Fan Shu, Chinese market, digital reading, agency model, offline community, educational app, book interpretation