Page 33 - Admired companies 2020

codeSpark Academy is the most used kid’s coding partnerships with like-minded companies that can help
platform in the world and the top-grossing coding them grow and prosper.
platform of any kind on iOS. Kids ages 5-10 use
the platform in order to learn fundamental computer Strong and Sharp Leader
science concepts. codeSpark is used at home and in In 2013, the CEO and Co-founder Grant Hosford’s
schools and has an unusual business model. Over young daughters wanted to know how computers
60,000 K-5 teachers use codeSpark Academy in their work. Inspired by their curiosity he tried to find an
classrooms for free to teach computer science while “ABC’s of computer science” for them and was
parents pay a subscription to access the platform shocked to learn nothing existed. Grant thought
directly at home. The company’s product team adds computer science should be taught like English and
new content and features to codeSpark Academy Math, with a clear progression from Kindergarten
every 3 to 4 weeks. The company is very proud through High School. He also thought learning about
that 54% of codeSpark’s users are girls, the highest computer science should be fun and focus on creation.
percentage on any coding platform. High visibility So, he connected with an incredible Cofounder, game
partnerships for codeSpark include being part of designer and father of three, Joe Shochet, who shared
Apple’s global “Everyone Can Code” initiative and his vision and they launched codeSpark in March
the launch of nine new coding merit badges for the 2014.
Girl Scouts this past July.
Grant had the original idea for the company and he and
Free Solutions Joe still set the vision today. Grant is very involved

The platform is free for public schools, libraries, in the global movement to teach young kids about the
and non-profits. Home users can purchase access fundamentals of computer science. In the last year, he
via a subscription. codeSpark lets public schools has spoken about the need for STEM education at a
use codeSpark Academy for free, so that all kids can young age in Beijing, Washington DC, and London.
have the necessary access. If parents want to use He also writes blogs quite frequently and recently
codeSpark Academy at home, they can purchase a posted a piece about why kids as young as 5 know
subscription. Teachers and subscribers get full access how AI works.
to codeSpark’s industry leading lesson plans, projects
and other resources.

Enabling Education Accessiblity Everywhere

codeSpark’s App has been downloaded over 14
million times and has been used by 30 million kids
around the world. The company designed the platform
to be available across all devices (Android, iOS,
Amazon and Desktop/Web). So, kids always have
new challenges and activities to engage with. The
game is self-directed and the interface is 100% visual
so anyone, anywhere in the world can play, including
pre-readers. In 4 years, over 30 Million kids in 190+
countries have used codeSpark Academy.

Largest Community of Kids

codeSpark is razor focused on building the largest
community of young kid creators in the world.
Currently kids are designing and coding over 1
million video games and interactive stories every
month! The company knows that if it keeps listening
carefully to the customers and keeps improving its
tools, it will have the global impact it is pushing
for. codeSpark will also continue to pursue smart

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