Released about 3 months ago, BookBuds is a social reading app built around a virtual bonfire.

Users can start a reading session and stay accountable with friends.

They are now sitting in the top 100 for books in over 35 countries.

BookBuds currently runs a total of 14 accounts. They started by only having an Instagram and TikTok page, but eventually started a TikTok-led UGC wave.

In fact, they went viral before the app even launched.

On December 12, 2025, 10 days before the official release, they hit 900K views on Instagram with a simple reaction -> app demo format.

“When you’re in a reading slump but your friends invite you to read together around a cozy virtual bonfire..”

And 2 days after, still before the app release, they hit 200K views with a similar video, leading to increasing comments of people asking for the app launch.

Pretty much all of the best-performing videos came during the pre-launch period.

However, after the strong launch the views slowed down, and they had to adapt.

That’s when they started a TikTok-led UGC wave. Around the end of Feb 2026, they began running ~10 creators.

They now post around three videos per day while experimenting with different angles.

We will keep you updated on their growth.