US-based, Google-backed educational technology startup Play-i has announced that it has raised $8M in series A financing from venture capital firms Madrona Venture Group and Charles River Ventures.
Google Ventures invested in Play-I’s $1m seed round in May 2013 alongside Madrona and several angel investors. Play-I has raised over $1.4m from pre-orders secured through crowdfunding for almost 11,000 units of Bo & Yana, the friendly robots the company builds to help children to learn programming concepts at an early age.
Apart from shipping for the pre-ordered robots, Play-i intends to use the investment to grow its team and further develop their robots. Play-i plans to partner with more than 100 developers and will provide them with early access to its API. Following the shipment of the pre-ordered robots, the company also plans to release the API for broader use.
Play-i has collaborated with over 200 schools and aims to introduce Bo & Yana to their curriculum in order to facilate the teaching of programming at a younger age.
“The response to our robots is humbling – the support from parents and children around the world inspires us,” said Play-I CEO Vikas Gupta, “Bo & Yana will arrive with hundreds of hours of play and learning, and we will continue to extend that over time through the software on touch devices.”