Dive Brief:

• Educents, a San Francisco Bay Area startup that tells administrators about discounted educational products, just raised $2.9 million in seed funding to expand its instructional materials marketplace.
• Working something like an Etsy for education, Educents allows education sellers to create digital storefronts on its site. While the company doesn't hold any inventory, it acts as a middle person and promises delivery within five business days.
• In addition to the funds to expand its marketplace, Educents has been experimenting with school partnerships, hammering out deals with various charter schools like KIPP, Aspire, and Green Dot charter networks. These schools can put money on Educents for students or teachers to spend as “EduBucks."

Dive Insight:

The company is currently running an "EduBucks" promotion where schools can get an extra 10% for every dollar they spend (i.e., $200 gets you $210 EduBucks). EdSurge points out that closing deals with schools is critical for the company, especially since it's already going to have to compete with other marketplaces like BetterLesson and TeachersPayTeachers.

In addition to the digital storefronts, Educents hosts flash sales that sell education materials at discounted prices much like e-commerce stores Gilt or BeachMint. When we profiled the site last fall, for example, we found personal planners selling for $14.99 (a 50% discount), but the catch was you had six days to make your purchase or else the deal was gone.