Bethany Koby

Last updated
Bethany Koby
Alma mater Rhode Island School of Design
Bath Spa University
Employer(s) Tech Will Save Us
Wolff Olins
Known forInnovation and making
Website https://www.techwillsaveus.com/

Bethany Koby is an American designer and inventor. She was the co-founder and chief executive officer of the insolvent business Tech Will Save Us. [1]

Contents

Education and early career

Koby is from Los Angeles. [2] Her mother taught in a Montessori school and her father was a photographer. [3] She attributes this to her love of making. [3] [4] She studied graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2000. [3] She earned a Master of Science in responsibility and business from Bath Spa University, which she studied in an effort to inform her art work. [5] She was a scholar at the Fabrica research centre. Koby joined the consultancy Wolff Olins, where she worked as design director and social impact specialist for 9 years. [6] She became interested in more interactive and effective ways to teach young people technology. [7]

Career

Koby co-founded Tech Will Save Us when she found a discarded laptop in Hackney in 2012. [8] Investors in their first seed-funding round included Gi Fernando, Christopher Mairs (chairman of Code Club) and Saatchi & Saatchi. [2] She worked with Nesta, Google and Mozilla to investigate what young people enjoyed and how it mapped to skills. [9]

Tech Will Save Us created DIY gadgets for everyday life that inspire creative imagination in young people. [6] They sold 8,000 units in their first year. [2] She raised a $1.8 million investment from venture capital funding, and sought the advice of Matt Webb and Tracy Doree. [8] [9] They have sold kits in over 100 countries and several major retailers, including in John Lewis, Barnes & Noble and Myer. [10] Their kits have been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art and Design Museum. [3] In 2009 she collaborated with the Dalston Mill to present an art show for the Barbican Centre. [5] She has taught classes at Kaospilot. [5] In 2015 Koby partnered with the BBC to ensure one million eleven-year-old children had access to a Micro Bit. [8] She designed the Tech Will Save Us Mover Kit, which raised £50,000 from a two-day crowdfunding campaign. [8] [11] The Mover Kit is a toy wearable for children that they can code themselves. [3] In 2016 they won Best Hardware at the Europas and in 2017 they were awarded the Best Kids Tech Kit from the Consumer Technology Association. [12] In 2018 they raised $4.2 million in Series A funding. [13] They collaborated with The Walt Disney Company on a Marvel Avengers themed kit that encourages children to invent superheroes to complete secret missions. [14] [15]

Koby recognises that parental buy-in is essential to reach children and young people. [16] [17] She has written for Goop and presented at the Family Tech Summit. [18] [19] An interview with her appears in the Coursera course on Brand Management. [20] Koby was selected as one of the top entrepreneurs in the UK tech sector by Growth Business in 2017. [21] She was championed by Innovate UK as one of their Game Changers. [22] She is one of the Creative Review Creative Leaders 50. [23] She is on the advisory board of The Education Foundation. [24] She was voted Innovator of the Year in the Tech Playmaker Awards in 2018. [25] She delivered the Design School Pioneers Lecture at the University of the Arts London in January 2018, and has been part of various Maker Faires. [26] [27]

In 2019, Koby was 22nd in Computer Weekly's 50 'Most Influential Women in UK Tech' shortlist for her role as CEO and co-founder of Technology Will Save Us. [28]

Tech Will Save Us became insolvent in April 2021, despite raising £1.3 million the previous year from crowdfunding and the British government's Future Fund. The assets of the business were acquired for £99,000 in a pre-pack administration by a company controlled by Koby and her associates. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Taxpayer millions at risk in Future Fund loans". 12 April 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. 1 2 3 "A DIY tech evangelist scales up before BBC's Micro Bit giveaway". Financial Times. 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Dunn, Laura Emily (2017-06-02). "Women in Business Q&A: Bethany Koby, Co-Founder, Technology Will Save Us". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  4. ↑ "Bethany Koby, CEO of Tech Will Save Us | Startup Salon | The Good Web Guide". www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  5. 1 2 3 "Bethany Koby". www.oneclub.org. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  6. 1 2 "WoW Woman in IoT | Bethany Koby, Co-founder and CEO of Technology Will Save Us". WOMEN OF WEARABLES. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  7. ↑ "Female Founded Tech Company Making a Mark in Education". Beyond Design. 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Game changers: Bethany Koby - Innovate UK". innovateuk.blog.gov.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  9. 1 2 Hern, Ninez; flirt, ez A. sensitive; Tease, An Awkward; Engineer, A. Metallurgical; surprisingly. (2016-12-17). "Technology Will Save Us: Sparking Kids' Imaginations Around The World". GineersNow. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  10. ↑ "Find a stockist". Tech Will Save Us. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  11. ↑ Rhodes, Margaret (2016-05-11). "This Hackable Wearable Is for Kids Who Don't Mess Around". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  12. ↑ TableCrowd (2016-07-18). "Dine with Europas Winner, Bethany Koby at dinner next week". Table Crowd Blog. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  13. ↑ "Tech Will Save Us raises $4.2M for its tech-focused range of toys, partners with Disney". TechCrunch. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  14. ↑ "Marvel Avengers Electro Hero Kit | Learn STEM". Tech Will Save Us. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  15. ↑ Hutchins, Robert. "UK's Tech Will Save Us scores $4.2m funding as it prepares Disney Marvel tech-infused toy line". ToyNews. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  16. ↑ Douglas, Ian (23 December 2015). "This woman wants to teach your child how to code and create their own gadgets this Christmas". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  17. ↑ Hedges, Frances (2018-08-29). "Life lessons: what I've learnt about running a tech start-up". Harper's BAZAAR. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  18. ↑ "Teaching Kids to Code". Goop. 2016-08-25. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  19. ↑ "Bethany Koby". FamilyTech. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  20. ↑ "1.3 Interview with Bethany Koby, Director, Technology Will Save Us - Brand Purpose & Experience". Coursera. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  21. ↑ "7 entrepreneurs leading the way for women in technology". Growth Business. 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  22. ↑ UK, Innovate. "Innovate My School - The woman who's getting hands-on with learning [insight]". www.innovatemyschool.com. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  23. ↑ "Bethany Koby - Creative Review". 23 May 2016. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  24. ↑ "Advisors". The Education Foundation. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  25. ↑ "Last Year's Awards | Technology Playmaker Awards 2019". techplaymakerawards.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  26. ↑ "Bethany Koby: Creative Pioneer". GMD/LCC. 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  27. ↑ "Inventing a Creative Tech Tool to Empower a New Generation". Maker Faire. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  28. ↑ "Computer Weekly announces the Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2019". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
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