Alfaaz

What Alfaaz does

Alfaaz is a Brooklyn-based creative writing and arts collective founded in 2019 by Karan Rathod, operating across 14+ countries with a 1-10 employee footprint. Its core product surface is human-curated literary content and community programming, anchored by recurring engagements such as the United Nations World Oceans Day partnership (2023-2026), collaborations with the Extended Reality Ensemble, exhibitions at the YOUMARES conference, and institutional work with organizations such as Pen Parentis.

The collective monetizes through four streams: retail publication sales (e.g., Alfaaz Volume I at $32 per copy), the paid Literary Development Program priced at $175/€150 per participant, fee-based editing and feedback services for individual writers, and Creative Organization Consulting for cultural institutions. Its technology footprint is minimal — operations rely on conventional publishing, digital program delivery, and community channels rather than proprietary software or AI tooling.

Go-to-market is community-led: Alfaaz builds cohorts, contributor networks, and institutional partnerships that feed both program enrollment and publication pipelines. Customers are a long tail of individual writers (e.g., Breanna Hall, Jasmine Bajaj) alongside small nonprofit and institutional buyers (Pen Parentis, UN). The model is founder-centric, with no disclosed institutional funding rounds.

Name

Alfaaz

Legal name

Alfaaz

Website

https://alfaazcollective.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Alfaaz is a Brooklyn-based creative writing and arts collective serving a global community of writers through curated publications, paid literary development programs, editing services, and institutional cultural partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Writing and Literary Publishing

NAICS

Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (71151)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJAJAF

Manuscript Development Services (Coaching, Developmental Editing)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Self-Publishing Platforms & Author Services

SECONDARYEDAMAJAC

Writing Skills & Composition Enrichment

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Reading, Writing & Literacy Enrichment

SECONDARYEDAMAMAI

Publishing & Submission Prep Workshops (Query Letters, Agents, Journals)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Creative Writing Workshops

Keywords

• Creative writing publishing
• Literary development programs
• Editorial feedback services
• Arts organization consulting
• Poetry curation

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Publication Sales: Sale of Alfaaz Volume I, a collection of poems and written pieces recreated by visual artists, sold at USD 32.00 per copy through their e-commerce store and retail partners.
2. Literary Development Program: The Writing Development and Accountability Program charges US$175 or €150 per participant for a 3-4 week group program with thought-starters, live feedback, and peer reviews.
3. Editing and Feedback Services: One-on-one editing, critique, and feedback services for writers to prepare pieces for publishing.
4. Creative Organization Consulting: Consulting services for creative organizations covering strategy, finance, funding, marketing, operations, and sustainability.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Alfaaz publishes creative writing and collaborates with visual artists on print publications such as Alfaaz Volume I, operates the Literary Development Program (a 3-4 week group writing program), delivers one-on-one editing and feedback services for writers, and provides strategy, finance, and operations consulting to creative organizations. It also curates poetry for events including the United Nations World Oceans Day and runs ongoing submission spaces (Holding Space and General Submissions).

Product overview

Alfaaz is a creative writing and arts collective offering a portfolio of services including publishing (digital and print), the Literary Development Program for group writing development, editing and feedback services, and consulting for creative organizations. Their flagship publication is Alfaaz Volume I, a collaborative book where written pieces by contributors are recreated by visual artists. The organization also operates ongoing submission platforms (Holding Space, General Submissions) and curates poetry for exhibitions including United Nations World Oceans Day.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Literary Development Program participants wrote over 40 pieces across different thought-starters in a single cohort

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• YOUMARES (Young Marine Researchers)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Invited to present the 'Witness the Water' exhibition at the YOUMARES conference in Kiel, Germany. This partnership showcases Alfaaz's work at a major marine science conference, bridging arts and environmental science.
• Tea HausminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaboration on Tea Haus Poetry event, with Alfaaz curating the lineup and theme titled 'Expected Departure' - engaging with temporality, change, loss, and welcoming the unknown.
• Wild Tongue ProductionsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partner in the 'Songs From The Source' exhibition, which showcased the relationship between nature and human creativity through installations, films, and poetry.
• Circuit SolariumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaborated on the 'Songs From The Source' exhibition as part of the Extended Reality Ensemble's broader project.
• Extended Reality Ensemble (XRE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Ongoing collaboration on multiple projects including 'Letters Without Borders' immersive experience, 'Songs From The Source' exhibition, and 'Manifest:io' in Berlin. XRE combines traditional art forms with mixed reality technology to tell stories of migrants, with Alfaaz providing written pieces and curating poetry elements.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bread Loaf Writers' Conference (Middlebury): Bread Loaf is one of the oldest and most prestigious U.S. writers' conferences, running intensive summer workshops in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction with faculty critique. It is a long-established analog to Alfaaz's structured, time-boxed writing development program with live feedback and peer review.
• Hugo House: Hugo House is a Seattle literary center offering writing classes, workshops, retreats, readings, and editorial services for writers at all levels. Its programming — paid group workshops, editorial feedback, and curated readings — closely parallels Alfaaz's Literary Development Program and editing services.
• Tin House: Tin House is a literary publisher and educator that runs Tin House Workshops (online and in-person craft courses for writers) alongside its books, literary magazine, and podcast. It is directly comparable to Alfaaz because it combines publishing of creative writing with fee-based writing development programs serving a similar community of independent writers.
• Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop: Kenyon Review publishes a major literary magazine and runs paid summer writing workshops for teens and adults. It overlaps Alfaaz on paid cohort programs, literary publishing, and editorial feedback, and similarly relies on a global contributor base.
• The Loft Literary Center: The Loft is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit literary center offering multi-week writing classes, workshops, one-on-one editing, readings, and a literary magazine. Its combined programming model — writing development, editorial services, publication, and community events — closely matches Alfaaz's portfolio.
• Community of Writers (formerly Squaw Valley): The Community of Writers hosts week-long writing workshops and conferences in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, with peer critique and faculty-led feedback. It is directly comparable to Alfaaz's cohort-based literary development format and emphasis on community accountability.
• Catapult: Catapult operates a literary book publishing imprint and a robust catalog of online writing classes, workshops, and editorial services for writers. Like Alfaaz, it monetizes across publication sales, group programs, and one-on-one editorial feedback, and serves the same population of aspiring and developing creative writers.
• Lighthouse Writers Workshop: Lighthouse is a Denver-based literary arts center that offers multi-week writing workshops, classes, and one-on-one editing/feedback for adult writers. It mirrors Alfaaz's combination of structured development programs, individualized critique, and a community-oriented mission.

Broad incumbents

• Granta: Granta is an internationally renowned literary magazine and book publisher featuring original poetry and fiction, with an editorial office in London. It is a broader incumbent in literary publishing and curatorial content — overlapping Alfaaz's publication and curation work, but at significantly larger scale and without a paid writing-program business model.
• The Poetry Foundation: The Poetry Foundation is a major literary nonprofit that publishes Poetry magazine, runs educational programs, sponsors readings, and supports poets globally. It is a broader incumbent comparable to Alfaaz on poetry publishing and curated international programming (e.g., its Ocean Verse initiative), but at far greater institutional scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/alfaazcollective
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alfaazcollective

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Alfaaz