Startup profile for Kno: latest funding, latest known valuation, total disclosed funding, investors, status, sources, and why the company is interesting. Part of the Venture Capital Tracker startup directory.
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Kno funding, valuation and investors

Digital textbook and study platform — acquired by Intel in 2013.

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Funding, valuation & investors

Answer-first snapshot

Latest funding

Series C

$30M · April 2011

Latest known valuation

Not publicly disclosed

Total disclosed equity funding

$30M

Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.

Current status

acquired

acquired · Santa Clara, California

Investors in latest funding

Other: Andreessen Horowitz , First Round Capital

Sources: latest funding Last verified: 2026-07-25

Overview

Kno built digital textbooks and study tools for college students, initially on custom dual-screen tablet hardware before pivoting to a software-only platform when hardware proved too costly. The company raised a $30M Series C in April 2011 with First Round Capital, Floodgate, and Andreessen Horowitz participating. Intel acquired Kno's assets in November 2013 to bolster its education division.

Why Kno is interesting

Kno pitched dual-screen tablet textbooks before pivoting to software-only — Intel bought the content platform for its education division after $70M+ raised from a16z and First Round.

Product & use cases

Kno delivered interactive digital textbooks with highlighting, note-taking, and study tools for college students — first on proprietary tablets, then as cross-platform software.

  • Digital textbook reading and annotation for college students
  • Interactive study tools and assessments
  • Publisher partnerships for digital content distribution

Key facts

  • Series C (Apr 2011): $30M — EdSurge
  • Exit (Nov 2013): Acquired by Intel
  • Pivoted from dual-screen tablet hardware to software-only

Funding history (newest first)

Series C

2011-04 $30M

Source: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2011-04-25-kno-raises-30-million

Investors in our directory

Funds linked from Kno's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.

Andreessen Horowitz First Round

Competitive landscape

Edge: Early mover in digital textbooks with publisher partnerships — before Kindle and Apple dominated the category.

Digital textbooks took years to reach mainstream adoption. Kno's hardware pivot failure was costly; Intel acquisition valued software and publisher relationships over devices.

  • Kindle Textbooks incumbent

    Amazon's digital textbook platform.

  • Chegg direct

    Textbook rentals and study tools.

  • Apple iBooks Textbooks incumbent

    Apple's education content platform.

Notable stories

  • Kno launched an ambitious dual-screen tablet for textbooks before abandoning hardware — the pivot to software-only came too late to avoid a modest Intel acquisition.
  • Intel bought Kno in November 2013 to integrate digital content into its education division during the tablet-in-schools push.

Industries

EdTech Consumer

Related funding articles

Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover Kno's financing or category context.

FAQs about Kno

Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.

Digital textbooks and study tools for college students — started on custom tablets, pivoted to software.
a16z (/fund/andreessen-horowitz) and First Round (/fund/first-round) in Series C. Floodgate also participated.
November 2013 by Intel.
Hardware was costly; software pivot couldn't sustain independent scale before Intel acquisition.
Kno was early digital textbook player; Kindle dominates today.
Original product — abandoned due to cost and market timing.
Osman Rashid and Babur Habib.
$30M Series C plus earlier rounds — total exceeded $70M per reports.
Assets integrated into Intel education initiatives post-2013.
No — acquired and absorbed by Intel.
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By Venture Capital Tracker

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Editorial note: AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.