Kano funded their Kano Kits project through a $1.5 million Kickstarter campaign, and the company has begun shipping out the first round of manufactured kits. The Kit is built upon open source technologies, including Raspberry Pi, Linux, and Chromium. It uses a building-block system to let kids build and modify applications that also generates and displays real JavaScript and Python code, a feature that allows learners to see the inner workings of what they are building. Kano OS, a custom distribution of Linux, comes installed on the devices and teaches children through gamification that gives them XP and achievements as they learn more about coding. The goal of the company is to make learning computer hardware design and coding as simple and fun as playing with Legos.
