December 19, 2011
StepStone Angels Completes
Investment in Courseload
INDIANAPOLIS- StepStone Angels, a statewide network of angel investors with chapters in Indianapolis, Anderson, Warsaw and Lafayette, completed its latest investment in Courseload, the leading innovator in the aggregation, delivery and use of e-textbooks and course materials.
Courseload marks the sixth portfolio company for StepStone Angels, which was founded to bring together accredited investors with promising startup or early-stage technology companies to provide capital and other critical resources needed by the companies.
“We are impressed with Courseload’s vision and plan for using emerging digital technology to cut the cost of textbooks and enhance teaching and learning,” said Oscar Moralez, managing partner at StepStone Business Partners. “With several colleges and universities – including Indiana University – already signed up and using Courseload’s services, we see incredible growth potential.”
“We are delighted to have StepStone join the Courseload circle” said Mickey Levitan, CEO and founder of Courseload. “They understand the technological innovations we’re making, support our vision for expansion, and bring extremely helpful experience to the mix.”
Courseload not only supports digital access to published content, but provides a full suite of interactive study tools, allowing digital integration of a variety of academic materials, such as open source and self-generated content, into the teaching and learning process.
StepStone Angels is an extension of StepStone Business Partners and was formed in 2009 to bring together high net-worth individuals who are interested in learning about unique investment opportunities in early-stage growth companies. StepStone Angels recruits new angel members into its exclusive network, engages in education, and is involved in business networking, opportunity generation and advocacy efforts on behalf of its angel network. StepStone Angels is not itself a fund and therefore does not invest on behalf of its community of angels.
StepStone Business Partners oversees the coordination of chapters, investors and entrepreneurial companies and leads the deal filtering, review and transaction process on behalf of the investors. “StepStone Angels and other similar investor groups represent a critical piece of the “investment continuum” in the life cycle of a startup company. We are excited to be a part of this community and believe our efforts to create the first statewide network of angel chapters and investors will provide these companies with critical resources they need to be successful” Moralez said.
About Courseload:
Courseload is a device- and content source-neutral aggregator and distributor of digital textbooks and course materials. Courseload’s approach eliminates the barriers that have impeded the print-to-digital evolution in academia while providing cost reductions to students and institutions and improving academic outcomes. With digital materials stored in one central location and accessible from multiple devices, Courseload enables students to learn and collaborate more successfully, provides faculty with digital tools and analytics that support teaching, and protects content owners from piracy and eroding revenue streams.