Robotic toymaker Sphero has acquired US-based children’s electronics kit producer LittleBits for an undisclosed amount, providing an exit for media company O’Reilly.
LittleBits sells kits made up of modular electronics blocks that fit together using magnets, meaning they can be assembled without wires or programming. Sphero makes rolling, internet-connected toys and is best known for a toy based on Star Wars character BB-8.
The deal follows $59m of funding for LittleBits, including a $44.2m series B round in 2015 featuring O’Reilly investment vehicle OATV as well as Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, DFJ Growth, VegasTechFund, Two Sigma Ventures, Grishin Robotics, Wamda Capital, Foundry Group, True Ventures and Khosla Ventures.
Mena Ventures, Neoteny Labs and Lerer Hippeau are also among LittleBits’ investors. Sphero has disclosed a total of $130m in funding from investors including media and entertainment group Walt Disney Company, home builder JF Shea, Foundry Group and Grishin Robotics.
Paul Berberian, chief executive of Sphero, said: “Sphero and LittleBits are on a mission to make hands-on learning fun and memorable.
“Together, we are 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 are all fun.”
