Inkspired: The Digital Community Of Writers And Readers


Born in Ecuador, startup Inkspired is now well established in Luxembourg thanks to the Fit 4 Start program. As a graduate of the 7th batch of the national acceleration program, Inkspired is now expanding its business in Europe. We had the good fortune of landing an interview with Galo A. Vargas, founder of Inkspired.
by: Charles-Louis Machuron
photo: Luxinnovation
featured: Galo A. Vargas

Inkspired was born in Ecuador and is already well established in the country. Why did you choose Fit 4 Start to enter the second stage of your development?

Coming to Europe was always a part of the plan since we wanted to have a clear European expansion, and Fit 4 Start just happened to be the right opportunity at the right time. Not only does the program provide generous grant funding, but it’s also composed of coaches the sincerely help you as well as a jury holding you accountable, all three of which are motivating and useful. What’s more, Luxembourg is right in the center of Europe, providing easy access to other markets, great public and private support, and a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem (where you can more easily connect). We were convinced that Fit 4 Start and Luxembourg were what we needed for the next stage. And we were not wrong.

“We help writers publish their creative stories on our platform and connect their stories to the right readers.”

What were the benefits of Fit 4 Start in your entrepreneurial journey?

The benefits came are multiple. Having expert coaches guiding us through the challenges of each stage of the growth blueprint was the most insightful one. Not only did their feedback help us make better decisions, but it also allowed us to track the right KPIs to get the right results. Our single mission during the program was to pivot the business model, and so we did, successfully.

What does your startup do exactly?

Inkspired is a digital community of writers and readers. We help writers publish their creative stories on our platform and connect their stories to the right readers.

How did you come up with the idea?

I was an author myself at one time, and I endured all of the all challenges that an emerging writer faces when trying to get a deal with a publisher. There are simply not many opportunities for beginners. Inkspired was born as a tool to help them break into the market, build up an audience, and validate the idea of their stories or books. With the time, it became much more than that.

 “[Fit 4 Start guided the way] we will tackle the challenges in European expansion.”

What is your business model (products/services, clients)?

We have multiple self-publishing services on the platform. However, our new business model is more about monetizing the increasing amount of readers we have and letting authors make money from their stories, the way Spotify does with artists. It’s a model that necessitates volume.

Has Fit 4 Start influenced your growth strategy?

Yes, vastly. Especially in how we will tackle the challenges in European expansion. The coaches helped us identify priorities and gave us direction based on their experiences. This allowed us to experiment with multiple hypotheses, measure, and validate them until we came out with a single plan that worked wonders in terms of growth.

What are the next steps in your development?

We are still developing an AI program to help writers write better fiction and make tailored recommendations for readers. Other from that, we are in a transition of becoming a mobile-first platform. A large part of our R&D is going that way.

In terms of user growth, we are working on an authors’ competition with an exclusive writing format that, if successful, will be the biggest milestone of the year.

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