Kano Computing is a global computer hardware and

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

start-up based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

History

Kano was founded in January 2013 by Alex Klein, Saul Klein, and Yonatan Raz-Fridman. The company's name originates from

Kanō Jigorō was a Japanese educator, athlete, and the founder of Judo. Along with Ju-Jutsu, Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innov ...

, the creator of

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

. Kano is a computing company that sells kits consisting of raspberry pi single-board computers and various accessories for teaching

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushr ...

, computing, and robotics to children.

Products

In August 2013, Kano launched an initial Kano Computer Prototype box. Itconsisted of a small USB keyboard, several prototype booklets, a case, a Raspberry Pi 1, and an SD card loaded with an early version of the Raspbian OS. All 200 prototypes released were sold. In 2014, the firm launched the Kano Computer Kit, an educational computer kit to teach hardware assembly and basic programming skills. It was built on

Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic ...

circuit boards and the company's custom open-source

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

, Kano OS. In 2018, the firm partnered with

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

to release an electronic ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students a ...

'' wand . The aim, according to the firm, Kano, was "to teach...the basics of languages like JavaScript, ." Also in 2018, the firm released motion sensor kits with ''

Frozen Frozen may refer to: * the result of freezing * a paralysis response in extreme cases of fear Films * ''Frozen'' (1997 film), a film by Wang Xiaoshuai * ''Frozen'' (2005 film), a film by Juliet McKoen * ''Frozen'' (2007 film), a film by Sh ...

'' and ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' themes in a multi-year partnership with

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. The USB motion sensor detects movement in front of the sensor's receptacle and users were given the ability to program objects based on the motion used above the device. In 2019, the company partnered with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

to release the Kano PC, a laptop and tablet pre-loaded with both

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on ...

and Kano's educational tools. Later in 2019, Kano launched its first educational subscription, Kano Club, where users can access programming and animation software, lessons and tutorials online. The service also includes a multiplayer component, and a community section. Kano launched a line of computer accessories in 2020 to coincide with its Kano PC release. These included a mouse, headphones and webcam. In October 2021, the firm began shipping of the Stem Player in partnership with Yeezy Tech and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Funding

Kano launched a crowdfunding campaign on the

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...

platform in November 2013. The company raised over $1.5 million from 13,387 backers, at the time becoming the crowdfunding service's largest learning campaign. Initial backers of the Kano were users from over 80 countries . Kano pixel, camera, and speaker kits

In 2016, Kano initiated a second Kickstarter campaign to fund products including a pixel art kit, motion sensor and webcam. The campaign generated $643,030 from 2,399 backers In April 2019, Kano announced a £14 million funding package from

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

,c]. Alex Klein currently serves as the company's chief executive officer (CEO).

Links to Kanye West

In January 2019, American musician and businessman

met Alex Klein during a chance encounter at the CES (technology show), CES technology show in Las Vegas. Since early 2019, the company are said to have been collaborating with West on an undisclosed technology product later revealed in August 2021 to be the Donda Stem Player. In November 2019, CEO Klein contributed lyrics to the Jesus is King track

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

. In October 2021, Kano began shipping the Donda Stem Player. In January 2023, in light of West’s

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

remarks, Kano announced that their collaboration with West has ended, and that the Donda Stem Player would be discontinued.

Recognition

In October 2016, the company began to work with Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic and his charitable foundation to deliver computer kits to Serbian children. In 2019, Kano was ranked number 24 on

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan We ...

's 50 Most Innovative Companies list. The company also received

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

's Invention of the Year awards in 2018 and 2019. In 2014, the company was awarded a Golden Lion at the Cannes Lions global marketing awards. They were also the recipient of a Webby Award and a CES Award in 2015 and 2018 respectively.

References

{{reflist Technology companies based in London 2013 establishments in the United Kingdom Kickstarter-funded products Computer companies established in 2013 Computer companies of the United Kingdom Consumer electronics brands Home computer hardware companies Software companies based in London