Sidewalk

Deal Snapshot

Company: Sidewalk, Inc.

Sector / Category: Higher education software / campus bookstore technology / textbook affordability

Headquarters: Ogden, Utah

Founded: 2007

Investor: Frazier VC

Investment Vehicle: Fund I

Deal Type: Secondary purchases

Company Overview

Sidewalk, originally known as CampusBookRentals, built software and services for college campuses and campus bookstores focused on textbook rentals, affordability, and content distribution. Over time, the company expanded from a direct-to-student rental model into a broader platform that helped campus stores run rental programs, improve pricing transparency, and compete more effectively in the higher education content market.

Public Funding / Capital Events

Aug 2, 2011 — More than $20M in equity and credit facilities TechCrunch reported that CampusBookRentals.com closed a financing round totaling more than $20 million in equity and credit facilities. Public sources also associate Level Equity and other growth investors with the business during this period.

May 7–8, 2014 — Rebrand from CampusBookRentals to Sidewalk Forbes and Publishers Weekly reported that CampusBookRentals rebranded as Sidewalk as the company expanded beyond online textbook rentals into a broader campus-store software and services platform. The rebrand reflected a strategy centered on helping bookstores modernize rental, pricing, and content distribution workflows.

2015 — Additional financing activity Public company profiles indicate Sidewalk completed an additional financing round in 2015

Investment Summary

Frazier VC invested in Sidewalk through Fund I via several secondary purchases in 2014 and again in 2017.

Why We Invested

Sidewalk addressed a large but underserved segment of higher education by helping campuses and bookstores manage the rising cost and complexity of course materials. Its model combined software, distribution, and transactional workflows in a way that could scale across institutions while becoming embedded in bookstore operations and student purchasing behavior. That created meaningful stickiness because pricing, rentals, fulfillment, and campus relationships all benefited from an integrated platform rather than a narrow point solution. The company also showed an ability to evolve with the market by expanding from textbook rentals into broader campus commerce and affordability tools.

Other Investors

• Level Equity

• Five Elms Capital

• Cherokee & Walker