We just signed a deal with Steve Wozniak to change the future of millions of learners. Here's what it means for our business.

Today I am excited to announce that we have put pen to paper on a long term partnership with Woz ED K-12, Steve Wozniak’s education company. Honestly, it feels quite surreal to be able to write that very sentence. Evan and I started Robotify in high school by building robotics kits with parts sourced from all over the world. We would experiment with different boards whether it be Arduino, Raspberry Pi or other similar frameworks. I distinctly remember the feeling of breaking out different parts and plugging them together to see if the robots came to life and then bringing these inventions to students in our school. The reaction was always the same: wonder, fun, excitement. Having come from where we did, teaching kids to code at the age of 16 using robots after school, to now receiving an endorsement from the founder of modern-day computing is something that hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Woz has always been a total inspiration for makers and doers, he has always provided a platform for young learners to engage with computers and technology. It’s hard not to feel a sense of pride when you hear what Woz has to say about Robotify and what our technology can bring to Woz ED’s students. Not unlike Woz and Jobs, Evan and I once built hardware out of our parents' garages, if we can even make 1% of the impact that duo made together we will have been successful.

Woz ED is a leader of K-12 education around the world. Their mission is to provide students with as much choice as possible and allow them to access multiple STEM pathways from drones to robotics and even more. A lot of Woz ED’s curriculum is built around physical kits and this has been difficult for their users specifically during COVID. But even before COVID there have been challenges getting students 1 to 1 access due to the inherent hardware costs of robots. The deal itself will see us bring our virtual robotics technology to Woz ED’s curriculum and help virtualize the physical aspects of their existing business in an effort to increase access to even more students on a 1 to 1 basis. 
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Our mission is and always has been to inspire people to learn about and use Robotics technology in an engaging and inspiring way. Through this partnership we will reach millions of students from different backgrounds across the United States. This partnership is part of our ongoing commitment to enable students to access the world’s best robotics technology in a cost-effective, accessible and equitable way. Steve is a big believer in doing big things and changing the world. He did that at Apple and we will do it again. Under the leadership of the brilliant Karen Young, Woz ED and Robotify can hopefully recreate some of the impact that Apple has driven and inspire millions of young learners about what the future holds for them. 

"I’m impressed with the way Robotify makes coding engaging and accessible. By virtualizing the technology more young people will have the opportunity to learn and explore. Both Woz Ed and Robotify focus on ensuring young learners are job-ready for the most in demand tech sector openings. We provide learners with the opportunity to engage in authentic projects to help them understand what work they love and excel at,” said Wozniak.

Not only is this news massive for us from an impact and commercial perspective for our start-up but we’ve also managed to secure another huge coup. I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that Robotify will be hosting a FREE half-day virtual expo this year. On September 23rd 2021, we will kick off our first Virtual Expo to celebrate new advancements in the STEM education and robotics industry. We will be giving attendees the opportunity to learn from industry experts and showcase some of the cool projects we’re working on at Robotify. Also, I’m delighted to share that Woz has agreed to be a keynote speaker at this event where I will be graciously hosting him at a fireside chat. Steve will be sharing his experience from his early days in Apple with some exciting stories about the journey. As well as this, I’m also hoping to hear his vision for the future of education. We hope to be able to announce more phenomenal speakers for this event in the coming weeks so stay tuned. You can register here.

All-in-all, I truly believe that this partnership will help Robotify fulfill its mission of becoming a leading voice in the world of virtual robotics. We promise to always deliver affordable and accessible ways of learning how to code with robots and we couldn’t be prouder to partner with Woz in this mission. Woz famously once said “Never trust a computer that you can’t throw out a window” and well, all I can say is that hopefully Robotify never makes anyone ever want to do that very thing again! Our team is humbled, excited and ready to enact change. The future is bright and we’re excited to shape it.