Hiptype delivers audience demographic data, information on how many readers actually finish a book – and, if not, where the drop-off points were – and how many people purchase a book after downloading and reading a sample.

Founders James Levy and Sohail Prasad are backed by startup incubator Y Combinator. They claim that their data is much more detailed than that typically provided to pubishers and authors by e-book stores.

However Hiptype only works with HTML5-supported devices – which excludes the Kindle, the dominant e-reader in the market.