Looks like VCs are really loosening their wallets. College textbook rental service Chegg says it has raised a stupendous $57 million in a fourth round of funding. It’s the latest company to pull in a big round this month; RockYou, Motley Fool, and Playdom have each raised $25 million-plus rounds over the last several weeks. Chegg’s round was led by Insight Venture Partners. Besides the venture round, it has also received a $25 million “credit facility,” along with a $30 million “debt facility” from Insight, Pinnacle Ventures and TriplePoint Capital, bringing the total money raised to $112 million. Chegg says it will use all the new cash to double the size of its workforce and expand the number of colleges it serves.

The company’s service lets college students rent textbooks, so they don’t have to buy them. The startup hired former Ask.com CEO Jim Safka as CEO in June, although he stepped down in September. Since then, founder Osman Rashid has once again taken over.

HOW DOES CHEGG.COM WORK?
You find the books you need by searching with the ISBN number, author, title or keyword from an inventory of more than 2.4 million books. The results returned include rental price, rental term, due date and detailed information about the book. Once an order is placed, you receive your books within four to seven business days. When it is time to return the books, simply print a pre-paid shipping label from the Chegg.com and drop the books in the mail using the re-usable box that the books were originally delivered in.

ARE THESE THE SAME TEXTBOOKS AS I WOULD BUY FROM MY COLLEGE BOOKSTORE?
These are the same exact textbooks. We purchase the books from the same publishers that the college bookstores do. The only difference is that we rent our books, which saves you money.

ARE THERE ANY SUBSCRIPTION FEES?
There are absolutely no subscription fees to rent textbooks from Chegg.com.

CAN I DECIDE TO PURCHASE A BOOK THAT I HAVE RENTED?
Yes. You are charged the price of the book minus the rental fee you have already paid.

HOW DOES CHEGG.COM BENEFIT STUDENTS?
Chegg.com provides convenient access to more than 2.4 million college textbooks. Not only do you save a ton by renting, but there is no need to wait in line at the bookstore or worry about how little money you will get back for your books at the end of the semester.

CAN I HIGHLIGHT IN THE BOOK?
Yes. Highlighting in the book is acceptable within reason. We ask that you are considerate while using the book; a book returned with every line of every page highlighted is overdoing it.

Sources: Joseph Tartakoff here, and Chegg.com

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 8:34 pm and is filed under Verticals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.