Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), the corporate venturing unit of Germany-based media group Bertelsmann, has backed as a new investor the $15m series B round for Flat World Knowledge, a US-based publisher of free and open college textbooks.
BDMI joined venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners, Valhalla Partners, GSA Venture Partners (formerly Greenhill SAVP) and High Peaks Venture Partners and angel investors in the B round consortium.
In March 2009, Flat World raised $8m in its
series A round from Valhalla, Greenhill SAVP, and High Peaks and angels.
Keith Titan, a principal at BDMI, who will be joining the company’s board, said: "Flat World Knowledge has the potential to significantly transform the $8bn college textbook publishing industry.
"Flat World is uniquely positioned to fully capitalize on the internet with an open textbook model that dramatically lowers costs for students and provides professors with greater control over the content, which is written by top academic authors."
Students spent an average of $1,137 in 2010 to 2011 for textbooks and supplies, according to College Board.
In contrast to traditional publishing’s "all rights reserved" copyright license, Flat World publishes under a creative commons open license. Students can read open textbooks online for free for as long as they like. Professors can reorder and edit content, and add new material and interactive media.
More than 100 top academic authors have signed with Flat World. Akin to the way colleges purchase software licenses, institutions buy per-student, per-course seat licenses for digital access to textbooks, and charge students a small fee as part of tuition.