Bethany Koby

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Bethany Koby
Alma materRhode Island School of Design
Bath Spa University
Employer(s)Tech Will Save Us
Wolff Olins
Known forInnovation and making
Websitehttps://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]

Education and early career[edit]

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[edit]

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]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Taxpayer millions at risk in Future Fund loans". 12 April 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. ^ a b c "A DIY tech evangelist scales up before BBC's Micro Bit giveaway". Financial Times. 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  3. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c "Bethany Koby". www.oneclub.org. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  6. ^ a b "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. ^ a b c d "Game changers: Bethany Koby - Innovate UK". innovateuk.blog.gov.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  9. ^ a b 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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