# Tertulia

> Tertulia is a New York-based book discovery and commerce startup that turns the internet's endless chatter about books into personalized reading recommendations, then lets you buy the book in a couple of taps. Named after the informal literary salons of Spanish cafes, it scans social media, podcasts, critics and the wider web to surface the titles people are actually talking about, pairs that with human curation, and wraps the whole thing in a community co-op that lets avid readers become part-owners of the store. In 2025 it expanded beyond readers to authors with Tertulia for Authors, an all-in-one website builder and marketing platform.

- **Founded:** 2021
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Founders:** Sebastian Cwilich (Co-Founder & CEO (former Artsy co-founder)), Lynda Hammes (Co-Founder (former publisher of Foreign Affairs magazine)), Robert Lenne (Co-Founder (former Artsy head of product and design))
- **Team size:** ~75 employees; a 13-person engineering and data science team based in Buenos Aires, with leadership split between New York and Sweden
- **Products:** Tertulia app (iOS), Community Co-op, Discovery engine, Tertulia for Authors
- **Notable:** Launched on iOS on June 7, 2022 with access to ~15 million titles, Raised $6M from a marquee roster including AlleyCorp, the founders of MTV, EarthLink and Shutterstock, The New York Times described it as 'a novel approach to online discovery'

## Products & services

- **Tertulia app (iOS)** — A free book discovery app that delivers five personalized recommendations a day, drawn from critics, journalists, celebrities, scientists, athletes, podcasts and social media, with integrated purchasing and fulfillment.
- **Community Co-op** — A $25/year membership that gives readers co-ownership units in proportion to their purchases, plus unlimited free shipping and a 10% discount on all books.
- **Discovery engine** — A machine-learning pipeline, supplemented by human curation, that scans web articles and social conversations to identify book mentions and rank titles by buzz rather than sales.
- **Tertulia for Authors** — An all-in-one author website builder launched in 2025: enter one ISBN and it imports your books, metadata, covers and retailer links to auto-build a site with blog, events calendar, newsletter tools and bookseller links.

## Achievements

- Launched on iOS on June 7, 2022 with access to ~15 million titles
- Raised $6M from a marquee roster including AlleyCorp, the founders of MTV, EarthLink and Shutterstock
- The New York Times described it as 'a novel approach to online discovery'
- Reported average order value roughly 50% above industry standard
- Expanded from a reader app into author services with a well-reviewed website builder in 2025

## Latest updates

- **2022-06** — Tertulia launches on iOS with integrated purchasing and the community co-op ownership program.
- **2022-10** — TechCrunch profiles the app's machine-learning discovery engine and Ingram partnership.
- **2025-01** — Tertulia expands into author services, launching Tertulia for Authors, a one-ISBN website builder, praised by Jane Friedman and others.

## Links

- Website: https://tertulia.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/jointertulia
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/JoinTertulia
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jointertulia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoinTertulia
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tertulia_books

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/tertulia
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-02