Educational robotic toymaker Sphero acquires littleBits, a maker of electronics building kits and instructional resources for kids
Context & Ripple Effects
This deal is the capstone of a two-year pivot. After laying off 45 employees following a disappointing holiday season, Sphero declared education its focus, then backed that with a $12M raise aimed at $20M total and the Specdrums acquisition — small hardware add-ons to an education catalog built on its robotic toys.
Buying littleBits is different in kind: it adds electronics building kits and instructional resources, moving Sphero from robots-with-lessons toward a broader STEAM portfolio for classrooms.
First-order effects
- littleBits' electronics kits and instructional content now sit inside Sphero's catalog, giving the combined company a robotics-plus-electronics bundle to sell into schools rather than standalone toy lines.
- Sphero's consumer-toy revenue base shrinks in relative importance as the company doubles down on the education channel it committed to after the 2018 restructuring.
Second-order effects
- Rivals selling classroom robotics and STEAM kits now face a competitor whose catalog spans both categories, pressuring them to bundle hardware with curriculum or seek their own acquisitions.
- The funding Sphero raised explicitly for its education shift gives it capital to integrate littleBits' products and teacher resources, raising the bar for what schools expect from a single vendor.
Third-order effects
- If toy-robotics makers keep consolidating around education after weak consumer seasons, the segment could restructure from hobbyist gadget sellers into curriculum-driven education vendors competing on instructional content, not just hardware.
- The pattern also points toward spin-offs and refocusing at the edges — Sphero later spun out Misty Robotics and Company Six — suggesting conglomerate-style portfolios where education becomes the core and other robotics bets are separated.
The trend: Consumer robotics toymakers are repositioning as education companies through acquisitions, trading volatile holiday-toy demand for recurring classroom sales.