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Zebra Robotics
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About Zebra Robotics.

Empowering the next generation through robotics, coding, and technology.

Est. 2014 · Mississauga, ON25+ locations · Canada & the US50+ coursesGrades 1–12

Our Story

One family's class,
25+ locations later.

Founded in 2014 in Mississauga, Ontario — Zebra Robotics began with one family's passion and grew into 25+ locations across Canada, the US and Jamaica.

Zebra Robotics was proudly founded in 2014 in Mississauga, Ontario Canada with a clear mission: to empower individuals through robotics, coding, and technology. Our founders, driven by a strong background in technology, embarked on this journey nearly a decade ago, sparked by a desire to nurture their son's passion for robotics. At a time when opportunities in this field were scarce, they took matters into their own hands and began teaching him. The enthusiasm quickly spread, as his friends expressed interest in joining, leading to a blossoming community.

The Thiyagarajans seized the opportunity to share their vision on a larger scale. They secured a space at a local community centre, and to their delight, the inaugural session sold out almost immediately. The demand only grew, leading Zebra Robotics to evolve into a full-time venture by 2015.

In 2018, we expanded our horizons even further, broadening our curriculum and footprint. Today, Zebra Robotics offers over 50 dynamic courses that cater to students from Grade 1 to 12, encompassing a wide range of robotics, coding, and technology programs. That same year, Jayendra Balasubramanian officially joined our esteemed founders' group, further strengthening our mission. Zebra started growing after 2021 and as of March 2025 has 25 locations in Canada, the US and Jamaica.

What Drives Us

Vision &
mission.

Vision

How we see the world

Our vision at Zebra Robotics is to inspire the next generation of students to be confident, respectful, and knowledgeable team players who will strive to solve many of the world's challenges using technology and STEM concepts.

Mission

Our mission

Our Mission is to provide a unique, challenging, and fun environment where innovation and collaboration are encouraged.

To instill teamwork, time management and professionalism in our classes; core skills necessary to compete in internationally recognized competitions and future careers.

Leadership Team

The founders.

Meet the founders who built Zebra Robotics from a community centre class to a North American franchise.

Satish Thiyagarajan

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

Satish Thiyagarajan

Satish Thiyagarajan, one of the founders of Zebra Robotics, is passionate about technology and creating organizations from ground up.

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He guides the overall direction of the organization, curriculum development direction, technology for research, operations and both manages and sustains growth initiatives and strategic alliances. Satish has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry in software development, data management, and enterprise architecture.

In his previous leadership role, he had set the direction for data analytics technologies adoption for United Guaranty a division of AIG, which is a Fortune 100 company. He had established best practices, standards for application data, analytics, and data intelligence. He had consulted and held various positions at organizations such as AIG, CGI, Canada Life, Aetna, and Cognizant Technologies.

Sharmila Govindarajan

Co-founder and Director HR & Operations

Sharmila Govindarajan

Sharmila Govindarajan is focused on day-to-day operations, customer relationships, and HR management of our two corporate locations in Canada and is one of the founders of Zebra Robotics. Sharmila loves working with kids and is a pragmatic person with a calm, "foot on the ground" attitude when things get busy at Zebra. She is passionate about teaching and sets the direction for curriculum creation for elementary students.

Jayendra Balasubramanian

Co-founder and Chief Business Officer

Jayendra Balasubramanian

Jayendra Balasubramanian is one of the founders of Zebra Robotics and joined the team in 2018.

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Jai is responsible for guiding the overall direction of the organization, implementing strategic growth initiatives and oversees operations, marketing, finance, and budgeting. Jai is a result driven technology executive with over 20 years of experience leading various digital initiatives and business transformations, delivering cost-effective and scalable solutions, while improving efficiency and enhancing customer experience.

Jai has held leadership position with AIG United Guaranty and Arch MI. He has vast experience in change management, Agile, product and program management, IT strategy, IT finance and software development best practices.

Team of Advisors

The advisors.

World-class advisors guiding our strategy and growth.

Dr. Prasanna Katragadda

Advisor

Dr. Prasanna Katragadda

Dr. Prasanna Katragadda is an engineer, entrepreneur and a mentor and has 28 years of experience in the engineering software industry. He retired from Dassault Systems as a Vice President of R&D in 2018 after working in various R&D roles ranging from Product Development to Engineering to R&D Operations.

Dr. Jonathan Kelly

Advisor

Dr. Jonathan Kelly

Dr. Jonathan Kelly is a Dean's Catalyst professor at the University of Toronto. He leads the Space & Terrestrial Autonomous Robotic Systems (STARS) Laboratory at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. His group carries out research on the nexus of sensing, planning, and control, with an emphasis on the study of fundamental problems related to perception, representation, and understanding of the world.

David H Kolada

Advisor

David H Kolada

David H Kolada is passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve sustainable growth and value creation.

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A seasoned financier, strategist and business builder, David combines a proven track record in venture capital investing with operational and domain expertise in the ICT and Cleantech sectors. David's priorities in life and business start with the conviction that great people and clear meaningful purpose are prerequisites to building anything of lasting value.

David has held several senior management positions including those of Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer at marketing SaaS pioneer Eloqua Corporation (now Oracle) and Senior Director, Strategic Investment at Cognos (now IBM).

Join the Story

The next chapter
could be yours.

Zebra Robotics is thriving and expanding organically through franchising. If you're ready to embark on your own entrepreneurial journey, we invite you to reach out to us!

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