BookRenter vies with Chegg for textbook rental action
Editor’s note: This is part of VentureBeat’s series “Startup Spotlight.” Every week, we’ll sift through the scores of companies applying to be promoted and profile the best one. Companies can sign up here at the Entrepreneur Corner, which is currently sponsored by Microsoft. (Of course, you’ll still find lots of startup news and innovation in our day-to-day coverage.) Today, we continue the series with BookRenter.com, below.
As I detailed yesterday in a story about open-source textbook… Continue Reading
Open-source textbook co. Flat World goes back to school with 40,000 new customers
Flat World Knowledge, publisher of free, open-source online college textbooks, says it has expanded its customer-base exponentially in the last year from 1,000 students at 30 universities to 40,000 at 400 universities headed into this fall — its busiest time of year. VentureBeat last reported on the company in March when it raised $8 million in a first round of funding — since then it appears it has only gained momentum.
With several startups cropping up… Continue Reading
Did textbook site Chegg raise $15M from Kleiner Perkins? Not exactly
We’re hearing that a funding rumor going around about used textbook site Chegg isn’t quite right. Chegg has some new venture backing, but the details of TechCrunch’s story reporting that Chegg raised $15 million from Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers aren’t quite right, multiple sources tell us — including Chegg chief executive Osman Rashid.
“The TechCrunch story is not accurate and that is all I can say at this point,” Rashid says. “We will be doing… Continue Reading
Used textbook site, Chegg, hits nerve
Updated
Used textbook site, Chegg, has hit a nerve.
Chegg is undercutting the prices of textbooks at college bookstores, and a recent BusinessWeek article about the Santa Clara, Calif. company has climbed to second place on Digg’s “Top in 24 Hours” page (as of this writing). We’re not sure exactly why. One reason may be because the young audience at Digg is enjoying the story — seeing this as a way of indirectly sticking it to… Continue Reading