Tynker, founded in 2012, is an educational programming platform that provides learners with STEM education in fun and interactive ways. It includes game design, web design, animation and robotics. Tynker incorporates courses in Minecraft Modding, Minecraft Game Design, Creative Coding, Python and CSS. It offers interactive story-based learning using languages such as JavaScript and Python. Tynker is based on HTML5 and JavaScript, and can be used in browsers, on tablets and/or smartphones. Its intent is to bring coding to life, through interactive, online mediums. You can start a student/teacher/school account. Teachers can use Tynker to teach coding to their students. Tynker offers tutorials that teach you how to use specific features.
There are three Co-Founders – each with their particular role.
CEO and Co-Founder is Krishna Vedati
Krishna is CEO and Co-Founder of Tynker. Krishna’s past work experience included Senior Vice President and General Manager of AT&T Interactive’s Consumer Division. Furthermore, he co-founded two venture-backed companies Plusmo and Covigo (acquired by AT&T and Motorola). He holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi, an M.S. degree in Computer Science from West Virginia University, and completed the Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Executive Program. His expertise in technology and previous experience in start up companies provides an excellent platform in his role at Tynker.
Kelvin Chong is the Chief Architect and Co-Founder
Kelvin Chong is the Chief Architect and Co-Founder of Tynker. He previously worked with companies like PipelineDB, Hewlett Packard, Sony Electronics and was Principal Engineer at Symbol Technologies. Kelvin Chong holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering. His experience as a software engineer and software architect gives him an excellent platform in the architectural programming and design of Tynker.
Srinivas Mandyam is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder
Srinivas Mandyam is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Tynker. His previous experience includes working at companies like Plusmo and PipelineDB. He was the VP of Engineering for The Real Yellow Pages, Founder and CTO of Plusmo, Senior Director of Engineering for Symbol Technologies. He holds a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science at the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University and Master of Computer Science from the University of Alabama. His qualifications and skills provide expertise in the technology of Tynker.
Board members and Advisor profiles:
Board members include Krishna Bharat who is a Principal Scientist at Google, creator of Google News
Board Member: Krishna Vedati (also CEO)
Advisor: Anil Pereira: Anil Pereira is a high technology executive and entrepreneur who has 20+ years of startup and corporate experience
Advisor: Surj Patel: is a Reviewer and Panelist at National Science Foundation
For a list of team/senior employees, go to: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tynker/people
Here is an informal talk with Krishna Vedati, speaking about entrepreneurship:
Hi Cindy,
Thank you for introducing Tynker to us. What I find fascinating is that none of the founders had an educational background, yet they still managed to come up with this brilliant idea of providing learners with STEM education in fun and interactive ways. I guess this was mostly complemented by their strong computer science backgrounds. This is a perfect example of how role models in entrepreneurial world think and act on their ideas. Thank you for this Cindy.
You’re welcome! I was thinking the same – that all three individuals are “tech” people. However, I have found that many STEM apps are started by venture-minded people with coding backgrounds. That being said, I’m sure there are educators that help in the curriculum, in the background. Tynker is super popular among the students that I work with. I am always amazed at how quickly young children learn coding! And, Tynker is super fun (having Minecraft in it doesn’t hurt! ;)).