Name

FIRST in Michigan

Legal name

FIRST in Michigan

Website

https://www.firstinmichigan.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

FIRST in Michigan is a Michigan non-profit state affiliate of FIRST that administers five age-tiered robotics education programs (FRC, FTC, FLL Challenge, Explore, Discover) serving K-12 students and schools across Michigan through community-led competition delivery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

STEM Education Programs

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Competition Robotics Teams & Coaching (FLL/FTC/FRC, VEX) (EDAMADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Robotics After-School & Enrichment Clubs (EDAMADAA), STEM Project-Based Learning (PBL) & Challenge Platforms (EDAFANAI)

Keywords

• Robotics education programs
• STEM youth competitions
• K-12 robotics teams
• FIRST robotics competition
• School STEM programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Michigan

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Program Registration and Membership: Revenue generated through team registrations for FIRST robotics competitions at various levels (FRC, FTC, FLL). Schools and teams pay registration fees to participate in the competitive programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

FIRST in Michigan is a non-profit organization that administers multiple FIRST robotics and STEM education programs across the state of Michigan. It offers a portfolio of five interconnected competition programs — FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) for high school students, FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) for middle and high school students, FLL Challenge for ages 9-14, FLL Explore for ages 6-10, and FLL Discover for ages 4-6 — providing a structured progression pathway from early childhood through high school that develops engineering, coding, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FRC: FIRST Robotics Competition - a high school robotics competition program
• FTC
• FLL-Challenge
• FLL-Explore
• FLL-Discover

Products and services

• FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) A high school robotics competition program where teams design, build, and compete with industrial-size robots in a challenging field game. Targeted at high school students through school-based and community teams in Michigan.
• FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) A mid-scale robotics competition for middle and high school students using reusable robot kits. Targeted at students progressing from introductory robotics to more advanced engineering challenges.
• FLL Challenge (FIRST LEGO League Challenge) A robotics competition for students ages 9-14 where teams research real-world problems and engineer solutions using LEGO-based robotics. Targeted at upper elementary and middle school students.
• FLL Explore (FIRST LEGO League Explore) An introductory robotics program for students ages 6-10 focused on exploring STEM concepts through building and programming with LEGO-based kits. Targeted at elementary school students as an entry point into robotics.
• FLL Discover (FIRST LEGO League Discover) An early childhood STEM education program introducing foundational science, technology, engineering, and math concepts to children ages 4-6 through guided, playful exploration. Targeted at preschool and early elementary learners.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIRST in Michigan is a state-level affiliate of FIRST, the international nonprofit organization that creates and manages the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST LEGO League programs. The state affiliate operates under FIRST's program framework and competition structure, delivering these programs to youth throughout Michigan.

Direct peers

• Botball Educational Robotics Program: Run by KIPR (KISS Institute for Practical Robotics), Botball hosts autonomous robotics competitions for middle and high school students. Targets a similar participant demographic as FTC and FRC and competes for school robotics program slots.
• VEX Robotics: Provides hardware kits and competition infrastructure (V5, IQ) used in VEX competitions. Competes directly with FIRST's robotics kits and platform, and is the principal rival in school-based competitive robotics.
• BEST Robotics: Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology (BEST) Robotics runs free middle and high school robotics competitions using a standardized kit. Offers schools a lower-cost alternative to FIRST programs and competes for the same student and school segments.
• REC Foundation (Robotics Education & Competition Foundation): Operates VEX Robotics Competitions (VRC, VEX IQ) for K-12 students. Directly competes with FIRST in Michigan for school robotics budgets and student participation, offering the principal alternative robotics competition ecosystem in the U.S.

Emerging players

• Project Lead the Way (PLTW): Provides K-12 STEM curriculum including computer science, engineering, and biomedical science pathways. Competes with FIRST for school STEM program budgets and adoption, though PLTW focuses more on in-classroom curriculum while FIRST emphasizes after-school competitions.
• MATE Inspiration for Innovation (MATE ROV Competition): Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) runs underwater ROV robotics competitions for K-12 and college students. Targets a narrower specialty within competitive robotics but overlaps with FIRST's student demographic and school sponsorship pool.

Others

• SkillsUSA: National nonprofit running career and technical education competitions for middle, high school, and college students. Includes robotics and STEM-related contests as part of a broader CTE portfolio, competing for student engagement and school partnership attention.

Broad incumbents

• LEGO Education: Supplies the LEGO-based robotics kits (SPIKE, Mindstorms) used in FLL programs and also sells directly to schools. While a co-dependent partner in the FLL ecosystem, LEGO Education also offers standalone STEM learning products that compete for the same educational robotics budgets.
• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology): The parent nonprofit that designs and manages the FRC, FTC, and FLL programs. While not a direct competitor, FIRST sets the curriculum, competition rules, and brand standards that FIRST in Michigan delivers, making it the closest analogous operating entity.

Regional players

• FIRST Indiana Robotics: State-level FIRST affiliate serving Indiana. Operates the same FRC, FTC, and FLL program structure under the FIRST umbrella, providing a clear sibling model for understanding FIRST in Michigan's operating context.

Market position

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/firstinmichigan
• Facebookfacebook.com/firstinmichigan
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/first-in-michigan

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about FIRST in Michigan