Armenia-based PinoKIT, which has received the 2020 Innovation and Regional Matching Grant (IMG/RMG), presents the world’s 1st complete subject-based training kit, powered by Raspberry Pi popular educational platform.

IMG/RMG competition is helping technological companies and teams to access international markets to promote and develop the technological solutions for non-technological niches. During the previous 10 years, such programs initiated by EIF have proved their effectiveness. 

The Innovation and Regional Matching Grant competition is implemented by Enterprise Incubator Foundation in the scope of the “Matching Grants” Program with the assistance of the RA Government, RA Ministry of High-Tech Industry and the World Bank.

The grant has significantly helped PinoKIT to position itself as a notable player in the rapidly growing Armenian tech ecosystem. The Grant Program aims at assisting companies operating in Yerevan and in the regions to develop their innovative tech products and solutions, as well as to direct them to promote traditional sectors of the economy.

Presenting an affordable and functional educational learning platform

PinoKIT co-founder Davit Zargaryan

PinoKIT is helping STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) students bridge the theory and practice, increase the learning process effectivity and productivity through engaging and highly visualized experiments.

While talking to EIF Blog, PinoKIT co-founder Davit Zargaryan stated that the team behind the startup presents an affordable and functional educational learning platform, that gives all the necessary tools and materials to introduce science and technology in the classroom, increasing the efficiency and productivity of the learning processes.

“For PinoKIT no PC & additional tools or hardware (Oscilloscope, DMM, Controllable Power supply…) are required; the experiment control & data acquisition are implemented on the specially designed All-in-One (teaching platform includes a learning software, hardware, and training curriculum) boards,” he stated.

According to PinoKIT co-founder, uninterruptible lectures and the absence of a connection between theory and the real world are the main reasons for ineffective education. Armenian leading companies of the high-tech sector alert that education providers lack visual and practical tools.

“We eternally encountered the same problem while supervising engineering students in our engineering company www.10X.am. About 80% of them could not implement their knowledge in real projects because of the lack of practice / practical work.

We made the decision to develop a special top board for just internal use, which would help students gain skills by doing hands-on experiments themselves. And it worked! Students became more engaged and interested in their profession and they were able to find the answers to many questions of their fields. This success made us think about expanding the idea and making it available for more extended audiences. And PinoKIT was born,” Davit added.

Stepping forward with the grant

“The educational technologies contribution to the Armenian educational system is not enough and the edtech sector needs major improvements. Obviously, it is hard for the sector’s companies to get support from the Government, so the grant was the best option to move further, to develop and promote “Made in Armenian Educational trainer kits”.

PinoKIT co-founder noted that the grant will cover both MVP development (supplements) and the human resources (specialist) engagement expenses.

It’s notable to mention that previously the startup also received STEP2 grant in 2019. You can read more about it here.

Increasing efficiency and productivity of the STEM learning processes

“We are driven to increase the efficiency and productivity of the STEM learning processes, make students be more motivated and science-oriented,” Davit noted.

The team behind PinoKIT is planning to implement 3 major goals: develop extra trainers for highly demanded subject (Robotics); finalize its e-commerce and online hands-on learning platform (lead generation); set a company representation in the EU region to access extra financial and networking opportunities.