Sphero and littleBits are teaming up with the intention of becoming the No. 1 STEAM and coding solution for educators, kids, and families.
Known for its educational robotics and STEM products, Sphero has been a dominant player in the educational tech space, while littleBits pioneered electronic building blocks. By acquiring littleBits, the Sphero portfolio will hold more than 140 patents in robotics, electronics, software, and the Internet of Things (IoT). For nearly a decade, both Sphero and littleBits have created new categories of learning tools, with their combined efforts reaching more than six million students in the classrooms of 65,000 teachers across 35,000 schools around the globe.
“Sphero and littleBits are on a mission to make hands-on learning fun and memorable,” says Paul Berberian, Sphero’s CEO. “Together, we’re able to make an even greater impact by delivering the best possible solution — whether it is programming a robot to solve a maze or building an electronic music synthesizer. There are infinite learning possibilities — and they’re all fun.”
“When I studied engineering, it was top-down, test-based,” says Ayah Bdeir, founder of littleBits, who is departing the company following the acquisition. “I hated it and wanted to quit every semester. Then I got exposed to the pedagogy of learning through play and my life changed; no one could peel me away from learning, inventing, creating. Together, littleBits and Sphero are now bringing this experience to kids everywhere.”
Both companies once took part in the Disney Accelerator Program, with Sphero (2014) and littleBits (2016) eventually producing products licensed by Disney, including Sphero’s famous BB-8 App-Enabled Droid and littleBits’ Marvel Avengers Hero Inventor Kit.
Sphero plans to continue spurring international growth with further acquisitions of other products and companies.
