Kno, Inc.

Students and educators lacked engaging, interactive digital alternatives to traditional printed textbooks, and publishers needed platforms to distribute educational content in modern digital formats.

Kno provided an interactive digital textbook platform with embedded assessments, social sharing tools, and enterprise management capabilities, allowing publishers to reach students across multiple devices while enabling teachers to track learning outcomes.

The company's tablet product failed as Apple dominated the market, and its shift to an app-based textbook platform failed to gain traction. Publisher deals limited Kno's revenue to 15% of gross revenue, preventing sustainable growth.

Kno aimed to revolutionize education by addressing the need for engaging, interactive digital alternatives to traditional textbooks. The platform offered interactive eTextbooks and eBooks for both K-12 and higher education, featuring embedded assessments, social sharing tools, and enterprise management capabilities. This allowed publishers to distribute their content across multiple devices and provided teachers with tools to monitor student learning outcomes. However, Kno faced significant challenges. Its tablet product struggled against Apple's dominance, and the subsequent shift to an app-based textbook platform failed to achieve widespread adoption. Crucially, revenue-sharing agreements with publishers, which capped Kno's earnings at 15% of gross revenue, hindered its ability to achieve sustainable growth. Ultimately, Kno was acquired by Intel in November 2013 for $15 million, and the service was rebranded as Intel Education Study before being shut down.