Startup Dorian has raised $3.25 million in seed funding led by March Capital Partners. Dorian is a platform allowing fiction writers and other storytellers to create their own games without coding.
Dorian co-founder and CEO Julia Palatovska, who previously worked as the head of business development at G5 Entertainment, told TechCrunch that the investment will help the platform become “Roblox or Twitch for writers.”
Dorian allows writers to create interactive stories. No coding skills are required. Characters and backgrounds can be designed using the assets from the platform’s library (the option to upload custom assets is expected in the future). A flowchart-style interface makes it easy to connect scenes in the story and create player choices. The platform is suitable for solo writers, but it also allows collaborative work style.
Dorian app allows users to publish their stories, the resulting IP remaining with the original creators. Dorian also provides detailed analytics, which helps understand how the stories resonate with readers. Analytical data can also be used to design an improve monetization through premium story choices.
During the early tests involving around 50,000 players, it only took writers a couple of iterations to improve monetization by 70%. Palatskova also stressed that with Dorian,”it’s fast and easy to test multiple branches.”
Dorian is currently in early access, but the company is hoping for a broader launch later this year.
Dorian’s success in creating an interactive platform that values storytelling while prioritizing monetization for its writers is a game-changer. Julia and her team are creating a community that is primed to capture the attention of today’s influential but underrepresented audiences of diverse content creators.
Gregory Milken, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at March Capital