BOUNDLESS: On April 6, Boston-based Boundless announced its acquisition by Valore for an undisclosed sum. As Boundless CEO Ariel Diaz tells EdSurge, the two businesses “go after the textbook market from different points”: Valore by offering cheaper physical textbooks to students, and Boundless through its digital teaching and learning platform.
Founded in 2002, ValoreBooks, then based in San Diego, CA, offered an online marketplace for textbook purchase and rental. In 2012 it was acquired by SimpleTuition, which offered tools that help families compare student loans and manage debt.
Boundless, which has provided digital higher education textbooks crafted from open educational resources since 2011, was beset early on with a lawsuit filed by Pearson, Cengage Learning and Freeman & Worth Publishing Group for copyright infringement. It was resolved in January 2014, with Boundless agreeing to pay $200K to each publisher. Since then the company has created textbooks in 25 subjects.
With the acquisition, the entire Boundless team will stay on board and join Valore in Boston. Diaz will take on the role of Chief Digital Officer, and will continue to lead Boundless as its own brand within Valore. The company is “on track to do over $100MM in revenue in 2015,” according to a press release. (Ariel declined to break out revenue by product or business line to EdSurge.)