Connecticut will float a $300,000 loan and a $100,000 grant to online textbook company Akademos Inc. to help it expand its Norwalk operations and hire seven new employees, the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) announced.
The money will also help fuel the company’s development of software services that it says will lower the cost to students and schools of textbooks and other educational materials.
The 10-year loan, from the state’s Manufacturing Assistance Act (MAA), has a 2 percent interest rate.
“This funding will allow us to expand faculty awareness and student access to lower-cost educational materials as well as enable us to continue to develop and introduce new textbook delivery options,” John Squires, CEO of Akademos, said in a statement.
Akademos created an online portal called the Textbook Adoption Tool, through which faculty can select textbooks based on price and reviews.
The company also has an e-commerce website for students called TextbookX.
The MAA and a related program called Small Business Express have assisted about 800 businesses over the past two years, DECD said.
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