ecoText — The Spotify For Textbooks
Enabling students to find quality, affordable research materials in a fraction of the time.
The Problem
Currently, 60% of college students choose not to purchase textbooks if they cannot get them used or at a depreciated value. That directly impacts their ability to perform in their studies and increases the barrier to entry to a higher education, one in which is growing in demand.
What The Company Does
EcoText is like the Spotify for college textbooks. The company currently has over 65,000 titles available on its platform from some of the largest open educational resource (OER) producers including OpenStax and others. The search engine allows students and professors to find free materials that they are able to use for their academics, dramatically reducing the overall cost of the course and democratizing access to resources. Through the company’s technology, ecoText increases collaborative engagement between students to enhance academic insight that otherwise would not be obtained through a traditional textbook. Features including highlighting, note taking, and shared annotations that allow students to gather insights to better understand material and increase academic curiosity. Professors also can see insights on their classroom to better understand how students engage with assigned readings in real time.
The Market
The textbook market is a $14 billion marketplace that has been stagnant and is ripe for disruption. There are a few competitors in the space, but ecoText differs from its ability to bring the textbook to life and collaboratively work with learning environments to deliver the best low cost learning materials they need for their classrooms. Also, with the rise of the coronavirus and the troubles in adapting to online learning environments, the company is equipping classrooms with the tools they need to better assess student engagement on particular learning materials. This also provides teachers with increased insight into the impact of their curriculum when they can’t speak with students in person each day.
Business Model
EcoText works directly with institutions to equip their classrooms, departments, or universities with its service through a per-seat model. If ecoText is not working directly with the institution, students and professors can access the database for free with the option of upgrading to additional features for a monthly subscription.
Traction
EcoText has partnered with OpenStax, one of the largest OER content producers in the world. The company has also spent the last 16 weeks participating in the Atlanta Tech Village Accelerator remotely.
Founding Team Background
The ecoText founding team is a group of resilient and dedicated former students who are excited about solving the problem of exuberant textbook costs. EcoText believes they are particularly equipped with the ability to solve this problem because the team, like so many, experienced this problem as undergraduates.
What They Need Help With
The company is currently in the midst of a pre-seed round and is still looking for investors to fill it. Connect with the ecoText team.
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