[ilink url=”http://www.flooved.com/home”]Flooved[/ilink] is on a mission to create a “Spotify for textbooks,” with a repository of extracts from academic textbooks. Students can browse this content, or opt to upload and share their own notes, adding to the growing database of information. Unlike Spotify, most of the content is free, but the company will likely make its money by charging students for premium access in the future.
Flooved is attempting to disrupt the publishing market. Most students are spending hundreds of pounds each term on buying new textbooks, and then attempt to resell them. The value of these textbooks depreciates quickly, as publishers regularly release newer versions.
Cofounders Hamish Brocklebank and Nicolas Philippe started the company two years ago, as they believed that students should not have to pay for academic content.
Whilst the level of funding is undisclosed, co-founder Brocklebank did say that it will give the team of seven employees about 9 months of runway, and that they will use this funding to invest in technical and product development.
The funding was raised from a few high net worth individuals, who believe in the vision and Flooved counts Stephan Shakespeare, founder of political research firm YouGov, and Lord Ashcroft, one of the UK’s wealthiest businessmen, among its investors. This company did reveal that it raised £400,000 in seed funding in January.
In the past nine months, Flooved has grown its user-base to 36,000 students. It is working with five universities for its trial and is marketing it’s offering directly to students, and is working closely with professors to integrate its resources and texts with universities’ existing online systems.
The company is one of six startups accepted into the BBC Worldwide Labs initiative, an accelerator program that gives the company free office space and mentorship.
