Tanoshi on ‘Shark Tank’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Entrepreneurs Greg Smith, Lisa Love and Brad Johnston took their affordable computing devices for kids to the Sharks on ABC’s Shark Tank to try to get a deal.

Tanoshi Kids Computers are 2-in-1 tablet and laptop that runs on Android 7.0. They are powered by that functionality, so they support millions of apps from the Google Play Store. Tanoshi is designed with safety in mind so that parents can enable SafeSearch and enable or disable features like web browsing and browsing history.

The founders pitched to Sharks Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Daymond John and Guest Shark Anne Wojcicki, the founder of 23 and Me. The episode airs on Wednesday, May 6 at 10 p.m. / 9 p.m. Central on ABC.

Here’s what you should know about Tanoshi:

1. Tanoshi Was Founded in 2016

Tanoshi, which means fun in Japanese, was founded in 2016 as a way to create educational, age-appropriate, fun and affordable computers for all children.

The computers are designed for kids between the ages of 6 and 12, and they can help those kids learn how to type, spell, create and code.

“Pitching the Sharks on Shark Tank was a chance of a lifetime,” said Johnston, co-founder and CEO at Tanoshi in a press release. “It’s an amazing show and we were thrilled to be invited to appear on it. You will have to tune in to see what happens!”

2. The Company’s Mission is to Bridge the Education Gap

The overall mission of Tanoshi is to provide an equitable digital education for every child in America and make sure all children, no matter what their socio-economic background is, can do their digital homework and develop 21st-century computer skills.

“We knew we were targeting an untapped market with a great deal of opportunity – school-age kids between the ages of 6-12 in underserved and underrepresented communities,” Love told Heavy in an email. “Our entire mission with Tanoshi is to provide an equitable digital education for ALL kids, no matter their socio-economic background.”

Right now is especially important to bridge that educational gap due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Many children are finding themselves with their schools shut down and parents are looking for ways for their children to keep up and keep learning.

“With the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic, the digital divide is widening between the haves and have nots, which is creating an even greater demand as well as urgency for our product,” Love said.

She also emphasized that Tanoshi was founded to help level the playing field and give every child a more equal opportunity for future success.

3. They Believe Developing Computer Skills Leads to a Brighter Future

The importance of developing computer skills in the 21st century is something very important to the founders of Tanoshi.

“At Tanoshi we believe that developing computer skills, including programming, is key to a brighter future,” Love stated in the press release. “We started Tanoshi thinking of underprivileged families that want their children to have equal opportunities to develop tech skills, but lack sufficient access.”

The tablet comes preloaded with apps that help children learn to code as well as learn other computer skills.

“All kids should have the opportunity to develop 21^st Century computer skills needed to excel in today’s school environment, such as typing, familiarity with common productivity apps (Google Docs, Sheets, etc.), and coding,” Love said. “However, many kids, especially from lower-income households, school districts, and other barriers, do not have the same opportunities as those from more affluent families and school districts.”

4. Most of the Founding Members Have Family Connected to the Education System

Love told us that most of the founding members have family members that are connected to the education system, so they were very supportive of the idea of the Tanoshi 2-in-1 from the start.

“Most of our founding team members have family members that are in some way connected to the education system,” she said. “My mom taught the primary grades for 50 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she started teaching in South Central.”

“I grew up seeing the inequalities of our education system. With that, friends and family were very supportive of our mission and product,” she concluded.

5. All the Computers are Currently Sold Out

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a large increase in interest and demand for the Tanoshi 2-in-1 kids computers, and they are currently sold out online.

Coming in the Fall of 2020, Tanoshi will release the Tanoshi Scholar, which will be marketed for preteens and open the door to a “whole new way of learning,” according to the Tanoshi website.

The Tanoshi Scholar comes with all the features of the 2-in-1 but also includes greater durability, splash-proof, dustproof, a webcam privacy filter, blue light filter and additional pre-loaded apps. The new model will also run on Android 10 rather than Android 7.

Tune into Shark Tank on May 6, 2020 at 10 p.m. on ABC to see if Tanoshi can get a deal with one of the Sharks.

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