Society often complains about our short attention spans, blaming doomscrolling. But what if the solution isn’t to stop scrolling, but to rethink what we’re scrolling through? That’s the bet startup ScrollEd is making. The Palo Alto-based startup is pitching in the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield 2023 competition with the novel idea that if students won’t open a textbook, the textbook should open itself up to them – as a scroll.

ScrollEd has built an app that allows the user to turn any text file, including dry PDFs or textbooks, into a feed that feels a lot like Instagram Reels or TikTok. As you scroll, the content shows up as AI-generated video, audio, text, or even interactive quizzes. Swiping up surfaces a new topic, while swiping sideways lets you go deeper into the one you’re on, with a quiz waiting for you at the end.

The younger generation is increasingly going short form, vertical feed only (especially the 18-year-olds we’ve spoken to!), and this poses challenges for any kind of media that requires depth. We want to meet them where they are… We just have to be deliberate about how we use it and choose not to maximize engagement on the platform.

A short video can make you curious; following that curiosity can mean searching for another explanation or leaving the app. We wanted going deeper to be as easy as moving to the next video. ScrollEd’s co-founder, Utsav Gupta, along with his wife Rebecca Neff, both students at Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania respectively, have noticed feeling dissatisfied after doomscrolling before bed and decided to bootstrap the company this year.

The startup is targeting educational institutions, corporate training programs, and individuals who “just want something better to scroll on,” according to Gupta. The company will launch its consumer business at Disrupt. (‘We’re hoping to ‘disrupt’ social media and short form!’ Gupta joked.) ScrollEd is following a freemium model, combining a free consumer feed with a paid ScrollEd Pro subscription and annual institutional licenses. Institutions pay to deliver educational material through the platform, in exchange for reports about engagement, lesson progress, and other data.