Fixit Clinic
Fixit Clinic is a volunteer-led, free community repair organization that hosts coached repair events at libraries, makerspaces, and universities across the U.S. It serves consumers with broken items, library systems, and engineering students, using a Discord-based global expert network for remote assistance.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersOakland, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Fixit Clinic does
Fixit Clinic is a community-based repair organization founded in 2009 by Peter Mui, operating volunteer-led repair events at libraries, makerspaces, and university campuses across the United States. Its core service is free, in-person repair coaching where volunteer experts help community members fix broken household items, electronics, and appliances rather than discard them. The organization has expanded into a national network with active presence in Oakland, Brooklyn, San Diego, Washington D.C., Albuquerque, and Massachusetts, and hosts educational Repair Workshops at Harvard, MIT, San Jose State, and Northeastern University to teach Design for Durability to engineering students.
The underlying technology layer is the Discord: Global Fixers platform, a global community of expert repairers connected via Discord, supplemented by reconfigured Chromebooks (auto-booting into Discord) deployed as "Repair Information Stations" at California libraries including Hercules, North Fair Oaks, San Leandro, and on the San Mateo County Library Makermobile. A secondary offering is a Chromebook conversion service, in partnership with the Dougherty Valley High School Engineering Club, that refurbishes expired Chromebooks past their Automatic Update Expiry date to bridge the digital divide.
The business model is non-commercial: all services are provided free of charge to participants, with no documented pricing, revenue, or institutional investment. The organization is staff-lean (5 employees), volunteer-driven, and sustains operations through in-kind venue partnerships with public libraries, makerspaces, and universities. Distribution occurs through event-based community engagement, earned media coverage (CBS, NPR, KQED, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Harvard Gazette), and a 2025 RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award recognizing KQED's feature reporting on the organization.
Fixit Clinic firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Fixit Clinic
- Website
- https://fixitclinic.org
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Fixit Clinic is a volunteer-led, free community repair organization that hosts coached repair events at libraries, makerspaces, and universities across the U.S. It serves consumers with broken items, library systems, and engineering students, using a Discord-based global expert network for remote assistance.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Fixit Clinic industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Community Repair Services
- NAICS
- Other Personal and Household Goods Repair and Maintenance (811490), Home and Garden Equipment Repair and Maintenance (811411)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Miscellaneous Repair Services (7600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Disability Services & Assistive Solutions (Accessibility, Assistive Tech) (BPAGALAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Patch, Surface Prep & Small-Area Repair (Holes, Dents, Touch-Ups) (HSAGAAAD), General Repairs, Handyman & Preventive Maintenance (PM) Programs (EDAEAAAE)
Keywords
Where Fixit Clinic is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oakland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices5 records
Markets served
Fixit Clinic business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Fixit Clinic product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Fixit Clinic organizes free community-based repair events where volunteer coaches help individuals fix broken household items, electronics, and appliances. The organization also operates Discord: Global Fixers, an online global community connecting repairers for remote expert assistance, and offers University Repair Workshops teaching Design for Durability to engineering students.
Product overview
Fixit Clinic is a community-based repair organization offering a platform of repair-related services centered around in-person Fixit Clinic events — community workshops where volunteer coaches help people fix broken non-functioning items. The core offering includes scheduled repair events held at libraries, makerspaces, and community centers. Supporting this are Discord: Global Fixers (an online community platform for remote repair assistance), University Repair Workshops (educational programs teaching design for durability to engineering students), and a Chromebook Conversion Service (helping schools extend device lifespans). Additional resources support community members in starting their own Fixit Clinics.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Discord: Global Fixers: A Discord-based global community platform connecting repairers worldwide to provide expert repair assistance remotely. The platform allows anyone to join and work alongside other repairers globally on items presented from in-person locations.
Products and services
- Fixit Clinic Events
Quantifiable outcome
- Keep items from landfills, reducing environmental waste
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Fixit Clinic
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Fixit Clinic technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature1 record
Fixit Clinic partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Northeastern UniversityminorNortheastern University featured Fixit Clinic in their news coverage related to the Oakland campus makerspace and repair advice programming.
- Brooklyn Spark MakerspacecoreBrooklyn Spark Makerspace in NYC hosts weekly Fixit Clinic events every Monday from 7-10pm, providing neighbor-to-neighbor community-based repair in New York City. The space offers Open Nights combined with Fixit Clinic programming.
- Harvard UniversitycoreHarvard University hosts Fixit Clinic Repair Workshops as part of educational programming. Events held at Harvard's sustainable facilities to teach Design for Manufacturing students about Design for Durability (DFD), incorporating durability, maintainability, serviceability, and repairability into engineering education.
- San Jose State UniversitycoreSan Jose State University hosted a Fixit Clinic Repair Workshop as part of the Three Weeks, Three University Repair Workshop series to educate engineering students on Design for Durability.
- MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)coreMIT hosted a Fixit Clinic Repair Workshop as part of university-based educational programming for engineering students on Design for Durability principles.
- San Mateo County Library System MakermobilecoreDedicated 'Repair Information Station' deployed on San Mateo County Library system's new Makermobile mobile makerspace. Combined with repair tools on the Makermobile, this enables community repair with remote expert assistance through Discord: Global Fixers wherever the Makermobile is deployed.
- Discord: Global FixerscoreGlobal Fixers is a Discord-based platform that connects repairers worldwide for remote expert assistance. Fixit Clinic has deployed Global Fixer appliances (AUEed Chromebooks reconfigured to auto-boot into Discord) at libraries and makerspaces including San Mateo County Library Makermobile, Hercules Library, North Fair Oaks Branch Library, and San Leandro Main Library.
- Cherwell Collective (UK)minorUK-based organization that hosted the online component of International Repair Day 2023 in combination with in-person events across the UK. Discord: Global Fixers hosted the virtual component supporting repairers worldwide.
- DC Public LibrarycoreDC Public Library hosts monthly Fixit Clinic events as part of their public programming. Their coaching network is growing and they created social media content (Instagram) that received 1.5K likes promoting the repair community.
- Dougherty Valley High School Engineering ClubminorPartnership with DVHS Engineering Club (San Ramon, California) to help divert and convert expired Chromebooks into general purpose computers. The initiative aims to reduce e-waste and bridge the digital divide in California communities. Seeking donations of expired Chromebooks for conversion workshops.
- USA-CA-Hercules Library (Contra Costa County Library system)minorDeployment location for Global Fixers appliance providing community repair assistance through Discord: Global Fixers platform.
- USA-CA-North Fair Oaks Branch Library (San Mateo County Library system)minorDeployment location for Global Fixers appliance providing community repair assistance through Discord: Global Fixers platform.
- USA-CA-San Leandro Main LibraryminorDeployment location for Global Fixers appliance providing community repair assistance through Discord: Global Fixers platform.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Fixit Clinic competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Call2Recycle: Call2Recycle operates the largest consumer battery and electronics recycling program in North America. It is comparable to Fixit Clinic as an adjacent player in the device-lifecycle and e-waste ecosystem, addressing overlapping sustainability audiences though through recycling rather than repair.
- e-Stewards Initiative: e-Stewards certifies ethical electronics recyclers and promotes responsible e-waste management. It is thematically comparable to Fixit Clinic as an adjacent player in the electronics-repair and e-waste-reduction ecosystem, though its focus is recycling rather than repair events.
Broad incumbents
- Patagonia (Worn Wear): Patagonia's Worn Wear program operates a clothing and gear repair business with trade-in and events. It is comparable to Fixit Clinic as a corporate-incumbent peer running branded repair programming and promoting the right-to-repair and circular-economy narrative.
- Make Community (Make: Magazine / Maker Media): Make Community produces Maker Faire events and Maker Media content supporting the broader maker movement including repair, electronics, and DIY. It is comparable to Fixit Clinic as an enabling ecosystem player supporting community repair education and makerspace programming.
Direct peers
- iFixit: iFixit is the leading online repair community with free repair manuals, teardowns, and parts sales. It is directly comparable to Fixit Clinic because both serve the same repair-self-sufficiency mission and audience of consumers fixing broken electronics and household goods, though iFixit operates digitally while Fixit Clinic runs in-person events.
- Repair Café International Foundation: Repair Café is the global originator of the community repair event model and directly competes with Fixit Clinic's core offering. Both organize volunteer-led neighborhood repair events where coaches help attendees fix broken items, addressing the same right-to-repair and sustainability audience.
- The Restart Project: The Restart Project runs community Repair Parties and educational programming in the UK focused on electronics repair and circular economy. It is directly comparable to Fixit Clinic as a peer community-repair organization with the same volunteer-coach model and right-to-repair advocacy mission.
Emerging players
- Open Repair Alliance: Open Repair Alliance is an open-data initiative that aggregates repair event statistics from partner organizations including Repair Cafés. It is comparable to Fixit Clinic because it operates within the same community repair ecosystem and shares the goal of measuring and growing repair culture.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Fixit Clinic social profiles
Digital presenceFixit Clinic financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Fixit Clinic leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Fixit Clinic funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Fixit Clinic M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Fixit Clinic
What does Fixit Clinic do?
Fixit Clinic organizes free community-based repair events where volunteer coaches help individuals fix broken household items, electronics, and appliances. The organization also operates Discord: Global Fixers, an online global community connecting repairers for remote expert assistance, and offers University Repair Workshops teaching Design for Durability to engineering students.
Is Fixit Clinic a public or private company?
Fixit Clinic is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Fixit Clinic founded?
Fixit Clinic was founded in -1. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Fixit Clinic based?
Fixit Clinic is headquartered in Oakland, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Fixit Clinic's main competitors?
Others on record are Call2Recycle and e-Stewards Initiative. Broad incumbents are Patagonia (Worn Wear) and Make Community (Make: Magazine / Maker Media). Direct peers are iFixit, Repair Café International Foundation and The Restart Project. Open Repair Alliance is listed as an emerging player.
Does Fixit Clinic have an API?
No public API is recorded for Fixit Clinic.
What industry is Fixit Clinic in?
Fixit Clinic's product category is Community Repair Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGALAM, Disability Services & Assistive Solutions (Accessibility, Assistive Tech), with a secondary code of HSAGAAAD, Patch, Surface Prep & Small-Area Repair (Holes, Dents, Touch-Ups). Its NAICS code is 811490 and its SIC code is 8300.