With the upcoming launch of Apple’s iPad and iBookstore, interest in e-books continues to rise. But while companies like Inkling are experimenting with adding interactive and social features, your basic e-book is still just a book in electronic format.
Now a startup called Vook has created a new kind of book that combines video and text, as well as images and social networking tools. For example, one of the vooks featured on its website is Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It, the online wine promoter’s book about making money from your passion. The vook version of Crush it combines the book’s text with video of Vaynerchuk’s talks and explanations. Vooks can be read either in your web browser or in a mobile app.
The Alameda, Calif.-based company announced a $2.5 million seed round today, from a number of well-known backers: Ron Conway; Kenneth Lerer, chairman of the Huffington Post; Maples Investments; Baseline Ventures; and Founder Collective. Vook launched last fall, and says it has deals with publishers including Simon & Schuster, HarperStudio and Hachette Filipacchi Media.