Nieman Labs has a good report on the early success of Swiss news startup Republik, which after a €3 million crowdfunded launch, is charging readers 240 Swiss Francs a year for in-depth reporting from a team of 34 full and part-time contributors.

The digital magazine launched in January after almost a year’s planning; a non-profit, Project J, opened in 2017.

It’s ad-free, and publishes one to three stories daily. There’s a focus on interdisciplinary reporting: Collaborating with scientists, for example.

Reader contributions come in the form of discussions, where the journalist is available to take questions and remarks from readers for a period.

Republik currently has just over 21,300 subscribers and needs to reach the 25,000 mark to break even.