Zoobean, a discovery platform and service that curates book and app selections for each individual child. This app allows a family, a school or a library (each with their own unique platform) to design reading challenges based on having participants log their reading, complete activities, and/ or post reviews. As noted on their website, Zoobean is like a Fitbit for reading as it assists in correlating data on reading sessions, logs books by scanning their ISBN numbers, keeps a log of current and past reading, tracks daily reading stats, and rewards readers for reading multiple days in a row with a badging system. The app also provides rich analytics to help support educators and learning institutions.
Felix is former DC Teacher of The Year and Founder of MoneyIsland. Jordan is Google’s former Head of K-12 Education. This husband and wife couple were inspired to start a book of the month business from the inspiration they received when their children gravitated towards a book that reflected their interracial family dynamics. This inspiration lead to their venture that would send a family handpicked pictures book based on non-traditional genres and interests like having an interracial family. Zoobean allowed Jordan and Felix to appear on Shark Tank where they gained investments from Mark Cuban. This investment allowed them the opportunity to expand their platform to include tools for facilitating reading programs, primarily in libraries and schools. Propelled from their early success and their appearance on Shark Tank, Zoobeans was able to partner with Sacramento Public Library and the Montgomery County Public Libraries in order to help refine and launch their product. The company now serves over 1,900 library systems (representing almost 10,000 library branches) and 1,200 school buildings. The mobile app and software have helped over 3 million readers participate in reading challenges and stay motivated to read (coolbeans.com).
Hi Julio,
Thank you for writing about founders Felix and Jordan. I grew up in Washington, D.C., so I was initially drawn to reply when I heard that Felix was a great teacher there. The founders seem like they make a great team (they are married!) and they both have serious credentials within the education field. I’d like to learn more about the projects Jordan initiated while she was Google’s former Head of K-12 Education. I’d be interested to learn more about where Zoobeans is now. They are in the public libraries in California, but I wonder if they are also in schools? I wonder how they are growing the company? I’ve often thought about the value in an app that curates app suggestions and book suggestions (or really ANY educational materials) to suit the needs of the child. I will research this app as it will be relevant to my third assignment. Thank you so much for posting it!