Boolino
Boolino, operating as Fiction Express, is a Barcelona-based education technology company that provides a subscription reading platform where K-12 students co-author stories with professional authors through weekly chapter voting, serving primary and secondary schools across English, Spanish, and Catalan markets.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersBarcelona, Spain
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Boolino does
Boolino is a Barcelona-based education technology company operating under the legal name Fiction Express Education (DBA: Fiction Express). The company runs an interactive digital reading platform that connects primary and secondary school students (reading ages 6+, 8+, and 10+) with professional authors through weekly serialized book chapters. Students vote on plot directions, interact with authors via book forums, and complete comprehension quizzes that feed into a teacher dashboard for tracking individual student progress across the academic year. The platform features accessibility options including dyslexic-friendly reader settings and a premium Gold Reader tier with access to more than 80 archived co-created titles. Fiction Express serves English, Spanish, and Catalan-speaking markets, with channel partnerships reaching international schools in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
The company's revenue model relies on recurring school subscriptions with a sales-led go-to-market motion targeting school administrators and teachers, complemented by self-serve free trial sign-ups and partnership-led distribution through educational associations such as BSME, ECIS, and COBIS. Marketing is reinforced by industry recognition including BETT Award Winner 2023, ELTons Awards Winner 2021, and ERA Award Winner 2023.
Over its 14-year operating history, Fiction Express has raised approximately $2.85M across six disclosed funding rounds from investors including Wayra, Emerge Education, and Ship2B, alongside public-sector financing from ENISA and Avançsa. The company employs between 11 and 50 staff, is led by co-founder and CEO Sven Huber alongside co-founder Toni Montserrat, and is currently operating privately with no public ticker or disclosed revenue figures.
Boolino firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Boolino
- Legal name
- Fiction Express Education
- Website
- https://boolino.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Boolino, operating as Fiction Express, is a Barcelona-based education technology company that provides a subscription reading platform where K-12 students co-author stories with professional authors through weekly chapter voting, serving primary and secondary schools across English, Spanish, and Catalan markets.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Boolino industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Educational Reading Platform (EdTech / K-12 Literacy Software)
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (51313)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Reading Content & eBooks (Leveled Readers, Libraries) (EDAFACAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Children’s Subscription & Book Club Publishing (MPAJAFAO), Early Readers & Phonics (Learn-to-Read) (EDAGAIAB)
Keywords
Where Boolino is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Barcelona
- HQ country
- Spain
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Boolino business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- School Subscription: Schools subscribe to the Fiction Express platform for their students. Subscription allows access to live chapter books, voting features, comprehension quizzes, author forums, and teacher dashboards. Pricing is likely based on school size or student count.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free Trial for Schools |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Boolino product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Fiction Express is a subscription-based educational reading platform for primary and secondary schools that publishes three new books every half-term in weekly chapters for readers aged 6+, 8+, and 10+. Students vote online on plot directions before a Tuesday midday deadline, and the winning option is written by the author in real time. The platform includes author forums, comprehension quizzes, dyslexia-friendly accessibility settings, and a teacher dashboard that tracks individual reading, voting, and comprehension progress.
Product overview
Fiction Express is a single unified educational book platform that connects students with professional authors. The core Fiction Express product enables readers aged 6+ to 10+ to read weekly chapters, vote on plot directions, take comprehension quizzes, and interact with authors through book forums. Fiction Express Gold Reader is a premium add-on tier that provides access to over 80 archived books, allowing users to compare their voting choices against the original story outcomes. The platform includes a teacher dashboard for tracking student progress in reading, voting, and comprehension outcomes.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Fiction Express Gold Reader: Premium reader level that gives access to more than 80 previously published books where readers can compare their vote against the option that won when the book was initially written.
Products and services
- Fiction Express Subscription-based educational reading platform for primary and secondary schools that publishes three new books every half-term in weekly chapters for readers aged 6+, 8+, and 10+. Students vote online on plot directions before a Tuesday midday deadline and authors write the winning option in real time. Includes author forums, online comprehension quizzes, a teacher dashboard tracking individual reading, voting, and quiz progress, dyslexia-friendly accessibility settings, and an annual publishing plan with classroom activities.
- Fiction Express Gold Reader Premium access tier within Fiction Express providing readers with access to more than 80 previously published books on the platform, enabling them to compare their original vote against the option that won when each book was initially written.
Quantifiable outcome
- Schools report noticeably excited students each week with the live chapter format
Companies that use Boolino
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Boolino technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Boolino partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- BesaminorPartnership with Besa, a professional association, to reach member schools and educational institutions.
- Department for International Trade (DIT)minorUK government department supporting international trade, providing market access support for Fiction Express.
- EdutechclusterminorCollaboration with Edutechcluster, an educational technology cluster organization.
- British Schools in the Middle East (BSME)minorPartnership with BSME, a network of British schools in the Middle East region.
- Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS)minorPartnership with ECIS to reach international schools globally.
- COBISminorSupporting Associate membership with COBIS (Council of British International Schools).
- Bcn Tech CityminorPartnership with Barcelona Tech City, a technology hub organization.
- AvançsaminorPartnership with Avançsa, a Catalan business development organization.
- EU Gateway Business AvenuesminorEuropean Union program supporting business expansion into Asian markets.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Boolino competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Epic!: Epic! is a digital reading library for kids 12 and under, with school subscription access and quizzes. Overlaps Fiction Express in the school-funded children's eReading category, though Epic! is broader/general-interest rather than co-created.
- Newsela: Newsela provides leveled nonfiction content with reading-comprehension assessment for K-12 schools. Comparable to Fiction Express in the school subscription model and focus on reading-skills improvement and assessment.
- Reading Eggs: Blake eLearning's Reading Eggs is a leading subscription-based reading platform for primary schools, offering leveled readers, comprehension activities, and teacher dashboards — directly comparable to Fiction Express in customer (schools), business model (B2B SaaS), and product category (digital reading for primary-age children).
- myON by Renaissance: Renaissance's myON is a digital reading library with thousands of titles for K-12 schools, integrated with assessment and teacher dashboards. It is a direct competitor for school reading-platform budgets and serves the same primary/secondary use cases Fiction Express targets.
- Raz-Kids / Raz-Plus (Learning A-Z): Learning A-Z's Raz-Kids and Raz-Plus offer leveled eBooks, comprehension quizzes, and teacher reporting for primary schools — a close functional analog to Fiction Express' reading-comprehension dashboard and leveled age-band approach.
Emerging players
- LiteracyPlanet: LiteracyPlanet is an online literacy program for primary schools offering gamified reading and comprehension. Comparable in target customer and curriculum-aligned reading-skill focus, though differentiated by gamification rather than author co-creation.
- Book Creator: Book Creator is a digital book creation app widely used in primary schools, sharing Fiction Express' education channel and pedagogical emphasis on reading/writing engagement, though focused on authoring rather than consuming serialized stories.
Broad incumbents
- Renaissance Learning: Renaissance Learning is the largest K-12 assessment and reading provider (Star, Accelerated Reader, myON), the dominant incumbent in school reading platforms — a major competitive incumbent for any procurement process Fiction Express enters.
- IXL Learning: IXL Learning is a major K-12 subscription platform spanning math, ELA, and other subjects, with significant school market share. A broad incumbent whose ELA products compete for the same school subscription wallet Fiction Express targets.
Regional players
- LightSail (formerly ePals/Capstone): LightSail is a digital reading library and literacy platform used in K-12 schools. Comparable in school subscription model and reading-comprehension features, though positioned primarily in North American markets relative to Fiction Express' European footprint.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Boolino social profiles
Digital presenceBoolino financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Boolino leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Boolino funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Boolino M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Boolino
What does Boolino do?
Fiction Express is a subscription-based educational reading platform for primary and secondary schools that publishes three new books every half-term in weekly chapters for readers aged 6+, 8+, and 10+. Students vote online on plot directions before a Tuesday midday deadline, and the winning option is written by the author in real time. The platform includes author forums, comprehension quizzes, dyslexia-friendly accessibility settings, and a teacher dashboard that tracks individual reading, voting, and comprehension progress.
Is Boolino a public or private company?
Boolino is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Boolino founded?
Boolino was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Boolino based?
Boolino is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, in the Europe region.
How does Boolino make money?
One revenue line is on record: school Subscription.
Who are Boolino's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Epic!, Newsela, Reading Eggs, myON by Renaissance and Raz-Kids / Raz-Plus (Learning A-Z). Emerging players are LiteracyPlanet and Book Creator. Broad incumbents are Renaissance Learning and IXL Learning. LightSail (formerly ePals/Capstone) is listed as a regional player.
Does Boolino have an API?
No public API is recorded for Boolino.
What industry is Boolino in?
Boolino's product category is Educational Reading Platform (EdTech / K-12 Literacy Software). Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFACAH, Digital Reading Content & eBooks (Leveled Readers, Libraries), with a secondary code of MPAJAFAO, Children’s Subscription & Book Club Publishing. Its NAICS code is 51313 and its SIC code is 2731.