US-based Lebanese-led Startup LittleBits Acquired by Robotics Company Sphero

LittleBits, a New-York-based educational robotics startup has announced its acquisition by Sphero, the leading robotics and STEAM company. This will allow these two establishments to become the leading experts in STEAM and coding solutions for classrooms, after-school programmes and living rooms around the globe.

LittleBits was founded in 2011 by Lebanese female entrepreneur Ayah Bdeir. Over the last nine years, these two companies have shaped the high-quality learning tools, making room for innovation and STEAM education through play technology, selling over $500 million in Sphero robots and LittleBits kits, and reaching over six million students and 35,000 schools around the world.

“When I studied engineering, it was top down, test-based, 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,” says Bdeir, as she looks to pursue her next journey while Paul Berberian serves as CEO of this new collective approach.

With this partnership, Sphero is all set to become the largest player in the educational technology market, with the benefit of possessing an unmatched, complete package of hardware, software, curriculum and training. With 67 Sphero Heroes and 50 LittleBits BitStar Educators, the two companies will collectively align their enthusiastic and innovative networks of global educators, and accelerate its global growth by expanding its international portfolio to include over 140 patents in robotics, electronics, and Internet of Things (IoT) software.

“Sphero and LittleBits are on a mission to make hands-on learning fun and memorable, together, we’re able to make an even greater impact by delivering the best possible solution,” says Sphero’s CEO Paul Berberian on his collaboration.