After some fantastic beta data, our company Boundless has decided to go for it. Venrock led the round.
The company is offering free college text books to students.
When the team first pitched us, we were amazed that only about 11% of a textbook’s price goes to the author. The rest funds various logistics, inventory and marketing costs at the publisher and book store. Very inefficient.
Boundless has also piqued interest from some traditional publishers.
Great stuff. Education is ripe for disruption, and I wish the team the best of luck. Not only is the issue that the costs of course materials are astronomically high, but the sad fact is that only 5% of higher ed students even choose to use etextbooks. That is partly because of the fact that etextbooks are being priced as a percentage of a list price print textbook…which makes absolutely no sense at all!! The publishers are too big too innovate right now…nor do they want to for the most part.
Go get ’em. Let me know if you need anything, I am committed to seeing change happen in higher ed.
Nick
We agree!