A California company has created a toy that teaches young children how to write code at an early age.
Play-i successfully raised $8 million to design and produce Bo and Yana, two robots that aim to pique kids' interest in coding, according to a report by PC Mag.
The startup had already made nearly $1 million toward the end of 2013, as buzz on the forthcoming gadget garnered a huge following online. Even before Play-i made the first models of Bo and Yana, almost 11,000 had pre-ordered the bots for kindergarteners.
Play-i rep June Lin wrote in a blog post this week that the company sought out financiers from Madrona Venture Group and Charles River Ventures to "bring learning and play to millions of children around the world."
"Your contribution to our crowdfunding campaign will go directly towards bringing Bo and Yana to you," Lin wrote on the company's fundraising page. "Building robots actually costs more than you might think."
Bo and Yana were first released in October of last year - two colorful, adorable robots that teach children five and older to code.
Users employ programming games, stories, songs and animated visuals to control Yana and Bo - the blue-and-orange robots that each have their own coding needs and particular personalities.
Children use what's called the Scratch and Blockly libraries - programming storehouses that allow the user to press easy code options that come already equipped with the robot's software. These presets teach kids the fundamentals of coding before they write their own.
Bo and Yana can link up with a handful of iOs gadgets, including the iPad Air, 3 and Mini. The iPhone 4S and up uses Bluetooth to connect to these robots, PC Mag reported.
Storyteller Yana goes for $49, while explorer Bo costs $149. Consumers can pick up both for a package deal of $198.
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