Learn to code startup pi-top pulls in $4.3M to fund a global edtech push @ TechCrunch.

London-based computing and learn-to-code startup pi-top has closed a £3.5million ($4.3M) Series A round of funding, led by Hambro Perks and with Committed Capital also participating.

The startup — which began life as a student project in 2014 to 3D print a Raspberry-Pi powered laptop, turning into a crowdfunding campaign for a laptop housing kit for the low cost microprocessor — has now raised more than £4.9M in total, and grown its team from two to 26 in just 18 months. 

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They’ve sold a total of 11,000 pi-tops ($265 + a Pi) and just over 10,000 pi-topCEEDs ($115 + a Pi) to date, according to co-founder Jesse Lozano, with most sold in the last six months as the team has ramped up in size.

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Both Kano and pi-top got their starts in the UK and also in crowdfunding, now they’re getting investments and going big/retail and worldwide – Kano recently announced they’re in Toy’s R Us and both Kano and pi-top are in the Adafruit store (pi-top is also in SparkFun now too). pi-top additionally says they’re going to open an office in Texas in 2017.