What mobsya does

Mobsya Association is a Swiss non-profit association founded in 2010 that produces and distributes the Thymio open-source educational robotics platform. The platform was designed by researchers at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in collaboration with ECAL (École cantonale d'art de Lausanne), and is offered under the Thymio® registered trademark. Mobsya's mission is to deliver comprehensive, engaging STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) learning journeys to learners of all ages, and the organization has set a public Impact Objective to reach 4 million STEAM learners by 2028.

The product portfolio spans hardware and software: Thymio 2+ and the AI-enabled Thymio AI are current robots, Thymio 3 is announced for September 2026, and the Thymio Suite provides visual and text-based programming interfaces. Complementary modules include Meet with Thymio (entry-level) and Extend Learning with Thymio (advanced). The organization monetizes via direct-to-consumer hardware sales through its own e-commerce site (thymio.org) and accepts donations as a non-profit. Distribution is global through the website and direct institutional sales, supported by a multilingual presence (English, French, German, Italian), an ambassador program, teaching resources, webinars, and event marketing including 20 workshops at the AIforGood Global Summit 2026.

Customer segments are organized horizontally across Education (schools and universities, primary), Corporate (workforce digital-skills training), and Individuals (personal/family robotics learning). There are no disclosed named enterprise customers, no public pricing tiers, and minimal disclosed funding beyond a $39,679 MassChallenge grant in 2018. Leadership includes CEO Sandrine Pruniere, founder Francesco Mondada, CTO Michael Bonani, and President Morgane Chevalier. The organization operates without parent company, subsidiaries, or public listing.

Name

mobsya

Legal name

Mobsya Association

Website

https://mobsya.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mobsya Association is a Swiss non-profit that produces the Thymio open-source educational robot platform, designed by EPFL researchers with ECAL. It sells hardware and software directly to schools, universities, corporations, and individuals to deliver STEAM education across all ages.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Robotics

NAICS

Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing (33331), Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing (3333)

SIC

Special Industry Machinery, Nec (3559)

akta.pro primary industry

Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins) (HDAAAIAK)

Keywords

• Educational robotics
• STEAM education
• Open-source robot
• Programming learning
• Educational technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Crissier

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales: Sale of Thymio educational robots including Thymio 2+ and Thymio AI models. One-time hardware purchase model for educational institutions, corporations, and individuals.
2. Donations: Nonprofit association accepting donations to support its mission of offering comprehensive STEAM journeys to learners of all ages.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mobsya is a nonprofit association that produces and distributes the Thymio, an open-source educational robot designed by researchers from EPFL in collaboration with ECAL. The company sells programmable robotics hardware (Thymio 2+, Thymio AI) and accompanying programming software (Thymio Suite) along with structured learning experiences (Meet with Thymio, Extend Learning with Thymio) to deliver STEAM education to learners of all ages.

Product overview

Mobsya offers a platform of educational robotics products centered around the Thymio open-source educational robot, designed by EPFL researchers in collaboration with ECAL. The product portfolio includes multiple robot versions (Thymio, Thymio 2+, Thymio AI, and upcoming Thymio 3), the Thymio Suite programming software, and complementary learning modules (Meet with Thymio, Extend Learning with Thymio). These products are designed to provide comprehensive STEAM education journeys for learners of all ages, from introductory robotics to advanced AI-powered learning experiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Thymio: Open-source educational robot product line designed by EPFL researchers, produced by Mobsya
• Thymio AI
• Thymio 2+
• Thymio 3

Products and services

• Thymio Open-source educational robot designed by EPFL researchers with ECAL, offering programmable robotics capabilities for comprehensive STEAM journeys to learners of all ages.
• Thymio 2+ Enhanced version of the Thymio educational robot with improved features and capabilities for STEAM education in classrooms and learning environments.
• Thymio AI AI-enabled version of the Thymio educational robot featuring artificial intelligence capabilities for advanced learning experiences in robotics and technology education.
• Thymio Suite Programming software for Thymio robots that enables learners to code and program their robots through visual and text-based programming interfaces.
• Thymio 3 Next generation educational robot featuring enhanced capabilities for classroom use, scheduled for release in September 2026.
• Meet with Thymio Entry-level educational offering for learners to discover and interact with the Thymio robot, designed for initial engagement with robotics and technology.
• Extend Learning with Thymio Advanced educational offering that extends learning opportunities with the Thymio robot, providing deeper exploration of robotics concepts and applications.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThymio was designed by researchers from EPFL, one of Switzerland's leading technical universities. This partnership provides academic credibility and research-backed product development for the educational robot platform.
• ECAL (École cantonale d'art de Lausanne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative design partnership with ECAL, a renowned art school, contributing to the aesthetic and user experience design of the Thymio robot platform.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Makeblock: Makeblock's mBot, Codey Rocky, and STEAM kits are programmable educational robots used in schools worldwide. It is a direct product peer in the K-12 STEAM robotics market with comparable visual programming environments.
• LEGO Education: LEGO Education sells robotics and STEAM kits (including SPIKE and WeDo) into the same K-12 and institutional education channels as Mobsya. It is the dominant incumbent in classroom robotics, making it the most direct comparable in product, customer, and use case.
• Sphero: Sphero produces programmable educational robots (Sphero Bolt, Indi, RVR) used in K-12 STEAM classrooms. It targets the same schools, teachers, and students as Thymio with a similar visual-programming, hands-on learning proposition.
• Wonder Workshop: Wonder Workshop's Dash, Dot, and Cue robots are programmable STEAM tools sold into elementary and middle schools. It competes head-to-head with Thymio for K-8 classroom budgets, teacher training programs, and visual programming curriculum adoption.
• Ozobot: Ozobot makes small programmable robots (Evo, Bit) used in K-12 STEAM education with both screen-free and block-based programming. It targets the same classroom robotics use cases as Thymio, particularly for younger learners.
• Micro:bit Educational Foundation: The micro:bit is a pocket-sized programmable device widely used in school STEAM curricula globally, with a similar open-source ethos and a foundation-led distribution model. It overlaps with Thymio in coding education, teacher resources, and classroom adoption.
• VEX Robotics: VEX Robotics (VEX IQ, VEX V5) offers programmable educational robotics kits and a global competition network, directly overlapping with Thymio in school robotics curricula, programming instruction, and STEAM competition ecosystems.

Others

• Scratch Foundation: Scratch (MIT) is the dominant visual block-based programming environment used in STEAM education and is complementary to Thymio's programming stack. It is thematically adjacent rather than a direct hardware competitor, but schools often pair Scratch-style tools with educational robots.

Broad incumbents

• Arduino Education: Arduino Education offers a broader STEAM and electronics platform (kits, CTC, programming) that includes robotics applications. It is a broader incumbent in classroom STEAM, overlapping with Thymio in programming and physical computing.

Emerging players

• iRobot Education: iRobot's education division sells Create and Root robots for classroom coding and robotics. It is an emerging player with partial overlap, focused on bringing consumer-robotics IP into K-12 STEAM settings where Thymio also competes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mobsya
• Xx.com/thymioii
• Facebookfacebook.com/thymioii

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 mobsya