Sphero is crowdfunding RVR, a new robot that can connect to accessories like Raspberry Pi through its universal expansion port, starting at $199 on Kickstarter
The RVR is coming — Sphero, the Colorado-based connected toy company, has had a successful, conventional run making sphere-shaped, smartphone-controlled robots.
Context & Ripple Effects
Sphero's RVR launch is the next step in a deliberate pivot: after dozens of January layoffs, the company raised $12M while shifting focus to education, and it has already used Kickstarter as a launchpad once before, acquiring Specdrums off its $175K ring-tapping campaign. RVR extends that playbook from accessories to a core product — a $199 robot built around a universal expansion port that treats Raspberry Pi-class add-ons as first-class citizens.
First-order effects
- Sphero shifts RVR's demand risk onto Kickstarter backers, getting pre-sale validation and working capital for an education-focused product line without conventional retail inventory commitments.
Second-order effects
- DJI's RoboMaster S1, a $499 programmable coding robot aimed at the same kids-and-education buyer, now faces a cheaper, more open rival whose expansion port invites the hobbyist ecosystem rather than locking it out.
- Raspberry Pi and similar accessory makers gain a new distribution surface: a mass-market robot that ships expecting their boards to be plugged into it.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, educational robotics consolidates around expandable platforms plus acquired content ecosystems — Sphero's later littleBits acquisition fits exactly this structure — squeezing closed, single-purpose toy robots out of the classroom market.
The trend: Toy robotics companies pivoting to education are de-risking the transition through crowdfunded, expansion-port hardware platforms that absorb third-party maker ecosystems.