Chegg, the social education platform, has acquired Student of Fortune, an online tutorial marketplace for those who need help or can help others with homework. The acquisition is the fourth in little more than a year for Chegg, which has evolved beyond its flagship business of online textbook rentals into a full-service social platform for students.
Student of Fortune, based in Los Angeles and founded in 2005 by two college students, enables students to pose questions or post tutorials on a wide variety of subjects. Students can post a question that is then sent to a network of Student of Fortune experts, who in turn writes a tutorial that helps answer the question for a fee.
Students can also serve as experts, earning money themselves for writing tutorials. The service is already used by more than 300,000 students.
In separate news, Chegg also announced Thursday that it is offering textbook rentals digitally with the most comprehensive textbook library for college
In June, Chegg purchased Notehall, a company that allows students to purchase or sell notes from and to other students. In December, it purchased Cramster, an online homework aid service. And in August 2010, Chegg purchased CourseRank, an online service that helps students select courses by sharing student and professors rankings of classes.
“We have developed a site that is now relevant to students 365 a days a year, rather than just two,” said Chegg Chairman, CEO and President Dan Rosensweig. “Renting textbooks online is still an important part of our business and of students’ lives. But with Student of Fortune, as well as our previous acquisitions of Cramster, CourseRank and Notehall, we can help students rent books digitally or in paper form, schedule the best courses, locate additional study materials and purchase class notes or tutorials. For the first time, students can even earn money for sharing class notes or tutorials, and connect with fellow students. It is essentially the entire educational lifestyle of a student on one site.”
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