KinderLab Robotics

What KinderLab Robotics does

KinderLab Robotics, Inc. is a privately held Waltham, Massachusetts–based educational technology company founded in 2013 by Dr. Marina Umaschi Bers and Mitch Rosenberg. The company designs and manufactures KIBO, a screen-free robotics platform for children in PreK through 5th grade, consisting of programmable robot bodies (KIBO 10/15/18/21), wooden tangible programming blocks with barcode stickers, and a modular ecosystem of sensor and extension modules (Sound Record/Playback, Expression, Advanced Coding, Marker, Building Brick/LEGO-compatible, Free Throw). Underlying technology relies on barcode scanning, basic sensors (sound, light, distance), and motor outputs rather than screens, tablets, or internet connectivity.

The company monetizes through a multi-stream model: direct e-commerce sales of individual kits ($165-$280) and Home Edition bundles to consumers and homeschool families; classroom packages ($1,975-$12,495) sold to schools, districts, and educational institutions that bundle hardware with standards-aligned curriculum and professional development; tiered training workshops ($100-$4,950) delivered virtually or on-site; and post-warranty repair services at a flat $110 fee. Supporting products include Growing with KIBO (PreK-2, 60 hours), Exploring with KIBO (Grades 3-5, 60 hours, launched February 2025), Creating with KIBO (20-40 hours), and the free Thinking with KIBO AI curriculum.

KinderLab operates from a small team of 10-15 employees, has received National Science Foundation STTR grants (2013 and 2015 totaling approximately $930K) and a $1M investment from BRC Innovation in 2017, and claims reach into 70+ countries and all 55 US states and territories. Its go-to-market combines self-serve e-commerce, enterprise field sales to institutions, conference-driven lead generation (FETC, ISTE), and community-led educator engagement, with curriculum content validated by Dr. Bers's Boston College DevTech Research Group and certified by the Computer Science Teachers Association.

Name

KinderLab Robotics

Legal name

KinderLab Robotics, Inc.

Website

https://kinderlabrobotics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

KinderLab Robotics is a Waltham, MA–based ed-tech company founded in 2013 that designs and sells KIBO, a screen-free programmable robotics kit and standards-aligned curriculum for PreK-5 classrooms, homeschool families, and informal learning environments worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Robotics (STEAM / Coding for PreK-5)

NAICS

Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing (33993), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Games, Toys & Children's Vehicles (No Dolls & Bicycles) (3944)

akta.pro primary industry

Robotics Learning Platforms (EDAFANAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Robotics Kits, Parts & Lab Equipment Providers (Education-Focused) (EDAMADAN), STEM & Coding Readiness for Early Learners (EDACANAF), Math & STEM Learning Technology (incl. Coding/Robotics Platforms) (EDAJAMAG), Educational & Hobby Robotics Kits (Consumer) (CRACARAG)

Keywords

• Screen-free robotics
• STEAM education kits
• Early childhood coding
• Educational robotics platforms
• K-12 makerspace materials

Headquarters

HQ city

Waltham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales - KIBO Robot Kits: Sale of KIBO robot kits at various price points ($165-$280 for individual kits) and classroom packages ($1,975-$12,495)
2. Curriculum Materials: Sale of curriculum guides and teaching materials including Growing with KIBO, Exploring with KIBO, and various activity guides
3. Professional Development Training: Tiered training services from 1-hour web conferences ($100) to multi-day on-site workshops ($4,950) for educators
4. Extension Sets and Parts: Sale of extension modules, replacement parts, and accessories for KIBO customization
5. Repair and Warranty Services: Post-warranty repair service at $110 flat fee with one-way shipping

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

KinderLab Robotics manufactures and sells KIBO, a screen-free educational robotics platform for children ages 4-10 (PreK through 5th grade). Children build, code, decorate, and animate a wooden-bodied robot using tangible barcode-scanned programming blocks—no screens, tablets, or internet required. The company bundles the hardware with 200+ hours of standards-aligned curriculum and offers tiered professional development workshops, sold both as individual kits to families and as multi-robot Classroom Packages to schools and districts.

Product overview

KinderLab Robotics offers KIBO, a screen-free educational robotics platform for children PreK through 5th grade. The core product line includes KIBO Robot Kits available in four models (KIBO 10, 15, 18, and 21) with increasing capabilities. The platform is modular, consisting of the main robot body plus extension sets including the Sound Record/Playback Module, Expression Module, Advanced Coding Extension Set, Marker Extension Set, Building Brick Extension Set (LEGO-compatible), and Free Throw Extension Set. Supporting the hardware are comprehensive curriculum products: Growing with KIBO (PreK-2, 60 hours), Exploring with KIBO (Grades 3-5, 60 hours), Creating with KIBO (20-40 hours), Thinking with KIBO (AI curriculum, 5 lessons free), plus teaching materials like Activity Cards, KIBO Says Game, Engineering Design Journals, and Assessment Workbooks. Professional Development Workshops range from 1-hour web sessions to 2-day in-person training. Classroom Packages bundle robots, curriculum, and training in Activity Center (2 kits), Small Classroom (5 kits), Full Classroom (10 kits), and STEAM Explorer configurations. Home Edition is available for家庭教育.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KIBO: Screen-free robotics coding kit for PreK through elementary kids, designed to teach STEAM concepts through hands-on play. Children build, code, decorate, and bring their own robot to life using tangible programming blocks.
• KIBO Kits
• Classroom Packages
• STEAM Explorer
• Thinking with KIBO

Products and services

• KIBO Robot Kit Screen-free educational robotics kit for children PreK through 5th grade. Children build, program, decorate, and bring their robot to life using tangible wooden programming blocks without screens, tablets, or an internet connection.
• KIBO Home Edition Version of the KIBO robot kit designed for home use by parents and homeschool families, bringing classroom-quality STEAM robotics into the home environment.
• Growing with KIBO (PreK-2 Curriculum) Comprehensive 60-hour standards-aligned curriculum guide covering robotics, coding, and computational thinking for early elementary classrooms (PreK through 2nd grade).
• Exploring with KIBO (Grades 3-5 Curriculum) 60-hour standards-aligned curriculum with 20 hours per grade level for upper elementary grades (3-5) and cross-curricular integration with math, science, social studies, and ELA.
• Thinking with KIBO (AI Curriculum) Free 5-lesson curriculum unit introducing early elementary children to core concepts of Artificial Intelligence through hands-on work with KIBO robotics, aligned with AI4K12 curriculum guidelines.
• KIBO Classroom Packages Bundled offerings combining KIBO robot kits, curriculum, professional development, and extension sets for activity centers, small classrooms, or full classrooms—sized for 4-6, 10-12, or 20-24 students, with STEAM Explorer tiers offering all extensions and curriculum in one package.
• Sound Record/Playback Module Module allowing students to record their own voice and have KIBO play back the recording for interactive Showtime with KIBO activities.
• Expression Module Module allowing children to transform KIBO with drawings, flags, and decorations, with a built-in whiteboard for interactive activities.
• Advanced Coding Extension Set Extension set for exploring sophisticated programming concepts including subroutines, nested IF statements inside repeat loops, and parameters, with 6-8 hours of activities.
• Marker Extension Set Enables KIBO to draw as it moves based on the child's programming sequence, with lesson plans for drawing shapes, letters, and creating artwork.
• Building Brick Extension Set Allows KIBO to connect with LEGO-compatible building bricks for expanded building possibilities, including a Build it Better Guide with engineering and architecture ideas.
• Free Throw Extension Set Enables KIBO to throw objects for activities like bowling and measurement exercises, supporting physics and math learning through estimation and measurement.
• Creating with KIBO Curriculum Guide Abbreviated core curriculum guide offering 20-40 hours of research-based activities for early learning classrooms.
• KIBO Professional Development Workshops Tiered educator training services from 1-hour web conferences to 2-day on-site workshops, available virtually or on-site and certified by CSTA as a Quality PD Program.
• KIBO Technical Support and Repair Service Technical support including 6-month warranty on KIBO robots, plus post-warranty repair service at a flat $110 fee with return shipping.

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Computer Science Teachers' Association has certified KinderLab's KIBO Professional Development as a Quality PD Program, validating the quality of educator training offerings.
• DevTech Research Group at Boston CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder Dr. Marina Bers heads the DevTech Research Group at Boston College, which conducts ongoing research into early childhood computer science and educational technology. The group develops and validates KIBO curriculum and assessment methods.
• AI4K12 (Carnegie Mellon University)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThinking with KIBO AI curriculum is aligned with AI4K12 curriculum guidelines, a collaboration between AAAI and CSTA that frames AI education as an important component of K-12 computer science education.
• MIT Media Lab (Seymour Papert)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder Dr. Marina Bers received her PhD from MIT Media Laboratory working with Seymour Papert, a pioneer in educational robotics and constructionist learning theory that underpins KIBO's design philosophy.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• LEGO Education: LEGO Education sells LEGO-based STEAM and robotics kits (SPIKE, WeDo, Mindstorms) into K-12 classrooms alongside standards-aligned curriculum. It directly competes with KIBO for elementary STEAM budgets, and the Building Brick Extension Set shows KinderLab is explicitly positioning for LEGO compatibility.
• Wonder Workshop: Wonder Workshop sells Dash, Dot, and Cue robots into K-5 classrooms with K-12 curriculum and PD, targeting the same early-childhood STEM coding buyer as KinderLab. Wonder Workshop is the most cited screen-and-app-based competitor to KIBO in the U.S. elementary market.
• Sphero: Sphero sells app-controlled educational robots (Sphero BOLT, Sphero indi, littleBits) plus STEAM curricula into schools and consumers. It competes head-to-head with KIBO for K-12 STEM budgets and for the home/homeschool segment KinderLab targets with the Home Edition.
• Ozobot: Ozobot sells small line-following and color-coding robots with K-12 STEM curriculum. It addresses the same early-elementary coding/STEAM buyer as KIBO, often at a lower per-kit price point that creates substitution risk against KIBO's premium classroom packages.
• Modular Robotics: Modular Robotics makes Cubelets, screen-free magnetic robotic blocks used in K-12 STEAM classrooms and makerspaces. Cubelets shares KIBO's screen-free, tangible-blocks pedagogy and competes for the same early-elementary and makerspace budgets.
• VEX Robotics: VEX Robotics sells K-12 educational robotics kits (VEX 123, VEX GO, VEX IQ) with classroom curriculum. VEX spans a wider grade range but overlaps KIBO in elementary STEAM robotics purchasing decisions and competes for the same grant-funded district orders.
• Makeblock: Makeblock (and its mBlock platform) sells STEAM robotics kits like mBot, Codey Rocky, and Halocode used in K-12 classrooms worldwide. It is a direct global competitor to KIBO with similar age-band targeting and curriculum packaging.

Emerging players

• BirdBrain Technologies: BirdBrain makes the Hummingbird Robotics Kit and Finch robots with CS/STEAM curriculum for K-12. It targets similar makerspace and elementary CS classrooms but with smaller scale and a more maker/hobbyist tilt than KIBO.

Broad incumbents

• Pitsco Education: Pitsco Education is a long-standing K-12 STEM curriculum and equipment provider selling kits, robotics, and curriculum bundles into schools and districts. It competes more broadly than KIBO but frequently wins against KinderLab in district-level STEAM procurement RFPs.

Others

• Scratch Foundation: The Scratch Foundation maintains Scratch and ScratchJr, the free block-based coding platforms co-created by KinderLab co-founder Marina Bers at MIT Media Lab. While not a commercial peer, its free CS curriculum directly influences and competes for the same early-childhood coding education dollar as KIBO.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/KinderLabRobot
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCI1135I3x2d2Yq9x-mczpaw
• Facebookfacebook.com/508066589316384
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kinderlab-robotics-inc-
• Instagraminstagram.com/kinderlabrobot

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KinderLab Robotics