Fable’s Next Chapter: Our Vision for the Future

Padma WarriorDecember 16, 2021

Before I started Fable, I spent almost a year meeting with numerous passionate readers and talented writers around the world. Along the way, I explored decades of research into the many benefits of reading, which include boosting our sense of well-being and mental health, increasing our sense of empathy and compassion, and extending our lifespan. After months of research, I arrived at the core vision for Fable: Stories for everyone. We created a tech company with the soul of an artist, developing a social platform that could bring the mental wellness benefits of reading to everyone. Today, I am proud to announce that we closed a $20 million Series A round to expand the Fable product, and accelerate growth in enterprise and consumer segments. Our Series A round is led by Tiger Global, with participation from Redpoint Ventures, Gaingels, Breyer Capital, Defy and others. We are grateful for their support and partnership.Our community has grown by leaps and bounds in 2021, and we will continue to tirelessly focus on our core mission: putting the omnipresent mobile screen in service of our mental wellness.

Fable’s origin story

We began developing our social platform for book clubs in 2020, during a time of great transformation as the world adapted to living under lockdown with remote work, homeschooling and digital experiences. Fable began building communities of readers and story lovers through a series of virtual events with mental wellness experts such as Headspace chief science officer Dr. Megan Bell and Dr. Josie Billington, influential business leaders like Twilio Founder and CEO Jeff Lawson, and the GOAT tennis champion and wellness advocate, Martina Navratilova.We officially launched the Fable app in April 2021, the modern way to discover, read, and discuss stories. Curation is at the heart of our new social reading platform, with book recommendations by tastemakers for every kind of reader. We began sharing new Fable Folios each week — collections of exceptional books handpicked by tastemakers, experts, acclaimed authors, world-class athletes, and industry titans. By April 2021, we had launched our first Featured Book Clubs on Fable, offering a range of reading experiences, from personal development classics to technology leadership to literary masterpieces. Our free clubs uniquely allow members to read together while sharing highlights, comments, links, and pictures to discuss books. Readers can create their personalized book lists and purchase ebooks choosing from over a million selections in our webstore.We also welcomed the incomparable LeVar Burton to the Fable community. Every week, he has been sharing his personal book recommendations and literary insights with our community. The LeVar Burton Book Club gave Fable members a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to read great books along with LeVar, discovering his comments and insights inside the ebook. Since then, we’ve added around 300 public book clubs with thousands of new members, connecting readers with influential TikTok creators, beloved authors, titans of industry, and well-read stars like Sean Austin. Alongside these great readers, we hosted book clubs for inspiring organizations like TED, Ebony, and Rock the Bells. By the way, when you purchase a book on Fable, you help a child read! We partner with the World Literacy Foundation, a global nonprofit organization striving to ensure that every child has the opportunity to acquire literacy skills and the books they need to reach their full potential. Every time you buy an ebook on Fable, we donate 20% of our net proceeds from the book sale to the World Literacy Foundation.

Creating a movement

The world needs the mental wellness benefits of reading now more than ever. Even before the pandemic turned our lives upside down, more than 264 million people worldwide suffered from depression. 45% of adults in the U.S now report that their mental health is negatively impacted due to stress over the virus. According to Forbes, employee mental health is one of the top leadership priorities in the coming decade. Time-starved and with limited mental energy, we scroll endlessly, searching for meaningful ways to fill the micro-moments in our busy lives. Ten years ago, the physical fitness industry was far less than the $4.2 trillion market it is today. I believe the mental wellness industry will experience a similar explosion in investment and interest. Today, coping with burnout, stress, and depression is the burning platform. Corporations must provide employees with the support they need to improve retention. Wellness programs are now a mainstay at organizations all over the world; over 80% of U.S companies with more than fifty employees offer some sort of corporate wellness benefit. Fable applies technology to bring humanity back to each of us. From our workplaces to our families, from our classrooms to our friendships, reading together helps us connect at a deeper level. Reading together improves our mental wellness. As we enter the next stage of our journey at Fable, our rapidly growing community will help people around the globe discover meaningful stories that stir our imaginations, bring us joy, and challenge our thinking. We will continue to be the destination for people who love stories!

Padma Warrior