Kano is a London-based company that makes DIY computers and encoding devices, designed to enable beginners to build their own technology. Alex Klein is one of the CEOs of Kano and John Makinson, former Chairman of Penguin Random House, is the chairman.
Video Kano (company)
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The founders of Kano are Alex Klein, Saul Klein venture capitalist, and Jonathan Raz-Fridman. Alex and Saul are cousins.
In January 2013, Raz-Fridman and Klein began working on the first Kano computer prototype kit, combining off-the-shelf components with graphics stories "with the goal of making Raspberry Pi more accessible". The founders collaborated with Raspberry Pi and Codecademy. They introduced the equipment to schools in low-income areas of London.
At the development stage, "Kano makes 200 kits and sells them based on word of mouth in London schools and in some big companies... The company spends its resources to make better designs, creates its own Raspberry Pi operating system, adds hardware -on, and... plug-and-play design. "
Kano partnered with creative MAP London consultants "to work on industrial design and make the device more intuitive and cohesive".
In July 2016, Kano announced its expansion into retail, offering its devices for sale in Toys "R" Us and Barnes & amp; Noble. The company also appointed John Makinson, Chairman of Penguin Random House, as Chairman of the new Board of Directors.
Kano was part of a delegation accompanying British Prime Minister Theresa May on an official visit to India in November 2016. Speaking at the India-UK Tech Summit on November 7, Mei said, we have brought "along with some of our biggest and most successful companies. and our smartest start-ups, from every region of the UK, to open up new markets for them and promote them to the wider world.One, Kano, uses its unique technology to teach children to code in British schools Just think about the impact that could happen in India. "
As of October 2016, Kano has 50 employees.
Maps Kano (company)
Crowdfunding and financing
On November 19, 2013, Kano launched a month-long Kickstarter campaign for crowdfunding the first mass-making computer kit for the summer of 2014, primarily through a $ 99 pre-order device. In 18 hours, Kano has reached his goal to collect $ 100,000.
At the end of the campaign on December 19, Kano has raised more than $ 1.5 million from 13,387 supporters. Kano Kickstarter supporters include Apple founder Steve Wozniak and Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler, who both sorted kits.
On May 4, 2015 at TechCrunch Disrupt New York conference, co-founder Kano Klein announced that the company had received $ 15 million in Serie A funding, led by venture capitalist Jim Breyer, as well as British economist Jim O'Neill and Collaborative Fund. With additional investment from UK business leader Martin Sorrell, Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, venture capital firm, Index Ventures, former Apple executive and Richard James, James Higa, CEO of Atomic Troy Carter, and angel investor Shana Fisher, Kano has raised $ 19 million per year. September 2016.
On September 27th, 2016 Kano launched the second Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation and launch of its new cameras, speakers and pixel kit. This kit contains a new developed Kano single board computer, and can be encoded wirelessly from any device. The company's goal is to raise $ 500,000 on October 27.
Products
The Kano Kit "includes everything needed to create a computer that does not have a screen, including Raspberry Pi, case, wireless keyboard with trackpad, cable, Wi-Fi dongle, and even speakers." The instructional guide shows users how to build computers by connecting parts together in a "somewhat like lego" way. According to Metro New York , "the machine can serve many functions of ordinary laptops - web browsing, correspondence - but its main attraction lies in the non-expert teaching of how computers work 'under the hood'".
For the kit coding component, Kano's team developed Kano OS, the Debian GNU/Linux distribution, and Kano Block, an open source visual programming language that can display code in Javascript and Python among other languages. On Kano OS, users can perform activities such as making music, streaming HD videos, reprogramming games like Pong and Minecraft , composing music, word processing, and web browsing.
In May 2015, Kano updated his computer device from Raspberry Pi 1 to the Raspberry 2 model, making it six times faster. In February 2016, Kano updated its device with the Raspberry Pi 3 model, improved performance by 50%, and also added Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities to its device.
More than 100,000 Kano computer kits have been sold since they began shipping in September 2014.
By 2015, Kano launches its display device, a build-it-yourself HD display that can then be connected to a laptop, game console, or Kano computer device. The kit includes a 10.1 "LCD display, with a 1200x800, 720p, 150 PPI display.As with a computer device, Kano designed the display kit in collaboration with the industry design firm MAP.According to The Verge , the kit kit makes the kit Kano computers, which do not include screens, are portable, "and therefore increase their value for children."
Through Kickstarter's second campaign, Kano introduced his DIY camera, pixels, and speaker kit. The camera kit is a five mega-pixel coded camera that can design flashes and filters, and create images, videos, and gifs. Pixel kit is a light board with a tilt sensor that can build games and create artwork in 1.7 million colors. The speaker kit is an intelligent speaker that can record, control and synthesize sound and electronic music.
Kano Sensors is a cheap USB module that senses temperature, movement, color, and tilt. They can be combined with one kit and Kano Code to produce different effects.
Kano Code, which controls the kit, is a free coding tool that combines block-based coding, typed text, and sharing engines that turn user creations into tutorials for others to follow.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia