Felix Lloyd, Co-Founder of Beanstack, Named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2025 Mid-Atlantic Award Finalist
ARLINGTON, Va., April 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Zoobean, Inc., maker of Beanstack , announced that the company's co-founder and CEO, Felix Lloyd, has been named by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) a finalist for the prestigious Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 Mid-Atlantic Award. Beanstack is a reading platform that uses proven gamification principles and modern reading accountability tools to motivate students to read and grow a school district's reading culture.
Now in its 40th year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program celebrates the bold leaders who disrupt markets through the world's most ground-breaking companies, revolutionizing industries and making a profound impact on communities. The program honors bold entrepreneurs whose innovations shape the future and pave the way for a thriving economy and a hopeful tomorrow. The Mid-Atlantic program celebrates Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC entrepreneurs. An independent panel of judges selected Felix Lloyd among 36 finalists for his entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and lasting impact in building long-term value.
Beanstack was originally created as a book-of-the-month business focusing on non-traditional genres and interests, and quickly found support. After a pivotal appearance on the fifth season of "Shark Tank" that resulted in an investment by Mark Cuban, Beanstack reimagined its business model. The platform is now designed to empower libraries and schools to build a culture of reading through digital reading challenges and motivation tools for readers of all ages. And Beanstack continues to evolve, most recently introducing AI-powered Book Talks with Benny, a conversational tool that helps students build honest reading habits and gives educators actionable insights to support every reader. The product featured on "Shark Tank" is very different from what Beanstack offers today, but the mission, purpose, and goals remain the same. The product is licensed by over 15,000 libraries and schools worldwide. Collectively, Beanstack readers have logged over seven billion minutes of reading.
Felix Lloyd, a former Washington, D.C. "Teacher of the Year," shares, "The initial idea for Beanstack came about from reading to my two-year-old son and seeing firsthand the impact of reading. Now, we pair our unique community-reading-challenge approach with gamification principles: rewarding students with digital badges, encouraging daily reading with streaks, and promoting positive competition with classmates. This inspires a true love of reading in students."
To learn more, visit: https://www.beanstack.com.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/felix-lloyd-co-founder-of-beanstack-named-an-entrepreneur-of-the-year-2025-mid-atlantic-award-finalist-302437699.html
SOURCE Beanstack