SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 28, 2012) - Rafter today launched as a new education technology company offering a network of software services that enable administrators and educators to better control costs and manage course materials for their students. Addressing higher education course materials management at an enterprise level, the Rafter Course Materials Network™ is the first suite of cloud-based software services that helps reduce costs for students and stores, helps educators discover and adopt the best materials, and provides college administrators with unprecedented power to control the complexities and reduce the costs of the entire course materials management process.
Rafter evolved out of one of the fastest growing education technology companies, textbook rental company BookRenter, which has saved millions of students more than $175 million across more than 5,000 campuses nationwide. In 2010, the company began to partner directly with schools to co-develop services to reduce the cost of and improve the experience associated with textbooks. Today, more than 500 schools have adopted BookRenter's solution.
"We've been working directly with colleges and universities for more than two years to develop a new approach to course materials management that goes far beyond textbook rental," said Mehdi Maghsoodnia, CEO of Rafter. "With the launch of Rafter, we bring that approach to a whole new level, empowering schools to solve the long-standing, systemic issues surrounding the delivery of course materials to their students. Rafter uses the latest technology to greatly improve the economics, quality of service, and student experience surrounding course materials."
Rafter fills the need for a neutral, unified platform to alleviate the mounting complexity and costs associated with course materials. Rafter partners with schools to innovate and provide a network of cloud-based software services, called the Rafter Course Materials Network™, that comprehensively manages content discovery, supply, distribution, pricing and commerce.
Serving students is at the core of the Rafter DNA, and the Rafter Network eases the financial burden of higher education by making educational materials more affordable to students, and thus making education more accessible overall.
The Rafter Course Materials Network provides value to every stakeholder on campus:
- Students receive more affordable and more convenient access to a wider selection of materials that they can buy or rent in their college store, online, or through their mobile devices.
- Educators are able to discover and adopt the latest and most relevant course materials and make more informed content decisions while maintaining their academic freedom. (See related announcement "Rafter Discover™ Launches, Empowering Educators to Find, Compare, Review, and Share Course Materials and Adoption Decisions to Help Reduce the Cost of Education.")
- Administrators gain control over the cost of course materials on campus, are able to support their students more effectively, and in turn increase the school's competitiveness and differentiation.
- College store managers can provide students with better prices, service, and selection of course materials. (See related announcement "Rafter™ Launches First Course Materials Network for Students, Educators and Administrators.")
"We know that schools want to provide students with a course materials experience that is affordable, efficient and convenient. Rafter is the company that gets them there," said Maghsoodnia. "Our open, neutral technology provides transparent solutions to support the entire campus in delivering the course materials of today and tomorrow."
Rafter's consumer facing site, BookRenter.com, will continue to operate as a service of Rafter and be a leading destination for students everywhere to rent and buy textbooks at savings of up to 80 percent.
About Rafter
Rafter is an education technology company and the leader in course materials management. Rafter offers a cloud-based Course Materials Network (CMN)™ that enables schools to significantly improve the affordability, effectiveness and accessibility of their educational materials. The Rafter Network™ leverages the latest technology to connect students, educators, administrators and content providers -- changing the course content experience from a burden to a rewarding process for all constituents. Rafter partners directly with more than 500 schools to improve the educational experience for students. Rafter owns and operates BookRenter.com, a destination site for students to rent and buy textbooks at up to 80 percent off. To date, Rafter has saved millions of students more than $175 million and counting and provided more than one hundred thousand books to children in support of early literacy. Rafter, headquartered in San Mateo, CA, is a privately held company. To learn more visit www.rafter.com
Contact Information:
Contact Info:
Dana Zemack or Aly Brady
415-625-8555
br@launchsquad.com