Iwan Books Secures First Investment Round to Launch AI-Powered Self-Publishing Platform for Gen Z
Iwan Books, an emerging self-publishing startup, has successfully closed its inaugural investment round through a strategic capital injection from Dr. Ahmed Sami, Founder and CEO of Eye Advertising Group. The funding is earmarked to accelerate the development and launch of a next-generation, AI-driven self-publishing platform specifically designed for younger demographics (Gen Z).
Founded by author, publisher, and entrepreneur Mohamed Gamal, Iwan Books aims to redefine content creation in a "post-print" era by leveraging artificial intelligence to assist authors across the entire publishing lifecycle—from drafting and design to global distribution.
Co-Founder Synergy and Strategic Roles
The investment marks Dr. Ahmed Sami as Iwan Books' first external investor and elevates him to the role of Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Founder / LeaderProfessional Background & Strategic Role
Mohamed Gamal
(Founder & CEO) | Established author with 19 published works and founder of "Kotobna". Recognized as an MIT Pan Arab (2015) and SeedStars winner, and named among the top 50 African entrepreneurs by African Business Heroes (2022). Brings deep industry knowledge in Arabic publishing and author acquisition. |
| Dr. Ahmed Sami
(Co-founder & CTO, Lead Investor) | Founder of Eye Advertising (2012) with over 20 years of experience in tech and marketing. His investment portfolio includes AI-centric startups such as Zaher AI (Generative SEO) and BlinkBot (AI revenue platforms). He will drive the platform's AI integration and technical scaling. |
Platform Features and Target Market
The new capital is being actively deployed to build out the Iwan Books platform across web browsers and native mobile applications (iOS and Android). Beta versions are already live as the company executes an early-adopter acquisition campaign targeting digital content creators.
Iwan Books distinguishes itself from traditional publishing and Gamal’s previous venture, "Kotobna," through a fundamentally different target demographic and format strategy:
Demographic Shift: While "Kotobna" primarily targets Millennials (ages 30–45) seeking traditional print books, Iwan Books targets Gen Z and younger Millennials (ages 15–30) who heavily consume short-form digital content, audio, and social media reels.
AI-Powered Publishing Suite: The platform provides creators with embedded AI tools to streamline production, including:
Automated book cover design.
AI-driven proofreading and editing.
Instant conversion of text into Audiobooks.
Extraction and generation of short-form promotional videos (reels) directly from the text.
Global Addressable Market: The platform is engineered to support both Arabic and English content, targeting a massive global market of approximately half a billion potential authors and readers.
By framing its vision around a "post-paper world," Iwan Books is positioning itself not merely as an e-book distributor, but as a comprehensive digital content incubator that transforms written works into multi-format media tailored for fast-paced digital consumption.