More cash is flowing into online textbook rentals: BookRenter, which lets college students rent textbooks so they don’t have to buy them, has raised $10 million in its second round of funding, seven months after raising $6 million in a first round.
The market is getting increasingly crowded — even Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), the largest operator of college bookstores in the U.S., started renting textbooks at many of its stores earlier this year. Another rival, Chegg, is using $112 million it raised late last year to fund an aggressive expansion.
BookRenter, however, says it’s still seeing “remarkable company growth of more than 400 percent year-over-year.” Remains to be seen if sales of e-readers geared for the college market, such as the Kno, which was unveiled this week and which will likely also promise access to cheaper textbooks, will ultimately change that.
The new round was led by Norwest Venture Partners; Storm Ventures and Adams Capital Management also participated. More in the release (via PeHub).

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