Chegg Founder’s New Venture: Electronic Books?
Updated: Is the founder of online textbook rental firm Chegg about to make a play in electronic books? Chegg co-founder Osman Rashid has now raised more than $1.1 million for his new venture Kakai, according to recent SEC filings (See here and here). On its website, Kakai describes itself only as being in stealth mode. But the company filed to trademark its name in May, saying it would use the brand for “portable electronic devices for receiving, displaying, reading and playing electronically published materials,” among other related uses. Rashid did not respond to an e-mail and phone message this afternoon. We’ve also reached out to a Chegg representative for comment. In an e-mail Thursday, Rashid clarifies that “Kakai is really more of a test bed to try out apps for devices like iPhone, (Pre) and (Android) G1/2.”
It would be surprising if Kakai was operating completely independently from Chegg. Rashid was replaced as Chegg’s CEO in early June by former Ask.com CEO Jim Safka. However, he remains the company’s chairman and says on his LinkedIn profile that he is currently “assisting (Safka) to help make Chegg a household name.” The two companies also share a backer in angel investor Eric Di Benedetto. Kakai’s co-founder Babur Habib was previously a manager at the electrical and semiconductor practice of engineering and scientific consulting firm Exponent and says he has eight years of experience in “a wide area of electronics technology.”
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Posted In: Media & Publishing, Books, eReaders, Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Venture Capital
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