Kano DIY computer kit (Photo : Facebook)
Kano has announced a new $149 Do It Yourself (DIY) computer kit with an upgraded motherboard. Co-founder Alex Klein shared that the company has received $15 million in startup funding.
Kano is a company based in London. It made the announcement Monday about its new kit and money at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City, according to USA Today.
Klein said that since the company's first startup fundraising last autumn, Kano has been on a "rollercoaster ride." Its goal is to give 600 million children under 15 years old "access to coding" via Kano computer kits.
Kano has received funding from various sources including Breyer Capital Collaborative Fund; and Jim O'Neil, a British economist. Previously Kano raised $1.5 million on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, racing past its $100,000 goal in only 16 hours.
The Kano computer kit includes colorful components that are manufactured in China, but must be assembled by the consumer. It includes 12 components including a Raspberry Pi motherboard, WiFi connector, and wireless orange keyboard, according to Gant Daily.
A monitor is not included in the kit. The instructions for assembling the DIY CPU were inspired by the booklets from Lego.
The latest funding will provide a Raspberry Pi 2 motherboard upgrade to the new kits, making the DYI computers 600% faster.
There is even a Powerup Kit available for more than 40,000 people in 86 nations who have already bought a Kano kit. This lets users upgrade the Pi 1 to Pi 2.
Kano also launched a new campaign on Quire, an equity crowdfunding platform. The goal is to raise $500,000 to allow the community to buy equity in the DIY computer company.
The average age of Kano computer users is 9.5 years old. However, Klein described the mix of users that include artists, war veterans, and 81-year-old grandmothers as "beautiful."
All shipping of Kano products is free. Klein explained that this returns "power" back to computer consumers.
