Chegg operates an online textbook rental business and a social education learning platform. Through Ghegg.com it provides course planning and selection (CourseRank), textbooks, study materials, homework help (Cramster) and notes. Students from more than 6,400 campuses nationwide can rent books online at Chegg.com and Borders.com and via an iPhone app. The company has attracted institutional investors and strategic backers. Chegg is led by President and CEO Dan Rosensweig and Senior Vice President and Co-Founder Aayush Phumbhra. Chegg rents textbooks to college students and operates a capital‑intensive textbook rental business requiring warehouses, large inventory, logistics, and shipping. Its core product is textbook rentals, supported by wholesale purchasing, warehouse management, and customer service, which the article cites as its main competitive advantages. As Chegg scales, its capital needs grow, making the business harder for competitors to replicate. The company raised a $75 million Series E from Hong Kong investment firm Ace Limited, bringing total capital raised to $219 million. Chegg had raised $57 million in its prior round in November. CEO Dan Rosensweig was scheduled to speak at Disrupt, where the company's planned use of the new capital was expected to be discussed. Chegg operates Chegg.com, a textbook rental website. The company closed a $57M Series D equity funding round to accelerate growth and enhance customer service. It plans to use the funds to further build partnerships with publishers, wholesalers and colleges. Chegg expects to double its workforce and continue expanding its customer base and the number of colleges it serves. The financing activity is accompanied by additional credit and debt facilities that bolster the company’s liquidity as it scales. Chegg operates a textbook rental service for college students: users identify needed books on the website, Chegg ships them (within eight business days), and students return them in a prepaid box at term end. The service is available nationwide across 4,000 universities. The company advertises substantial savings for students, with some reportedly saving as much as $650 per quarter in textbook fees. The model competes with campus bookstores and buyback programs by offering lower costs and convenient shipping and returns. The article notes Chegg’s growth potential, saying the service could spread rapidly as more students learn about the savings. It also flags a possible long-term threat from the shift to digital textbooks and e-readers like the Kindle. Financially, the company has just closed a Series C financing (see deal details). Chegg (also known as Chicken & Egg) operates an online, college-focused marketplace that lets students buy and sell textbooks and other school-related items for free. The service requires a university e-mail address to join, which the company uses to limit spam and target students. Chegg emphasizes a local focus as a competitive differentiator against national marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and Half.com. The company highlights an addressable market of $11 billion in textbook and school-related revenues and aims to capture a meaningful share of that market. Company leadership has stated a target of capturing roughly 5% of the market. Chegg faces competition from large general marketplaces but positions local targeting and campus focus as strengths.

Total raised

$184M

Funding rounds

6

Latest round

Series E

Latest activity

Sep 2010