RobotCity Workshop

What RobotCity Workshop does

RobotCity Workshop is a privately held, single-location educational robotics retailer and enrichment center founded in 2008 and based at 3226 N. Sheffield Ave. in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. The company serves children (primarily ages 4-12), families, and adults in the Chicagoland area through in-store workshops, summer and day-off camps, birthday parties, after-school programs at approximately 30 partner schools, special events such as Robot Date Night, and an online webstore.

Its core offerings are hands-on robot-building experiences delivered across a tiered curriculum — Beginner Workshops, Intermediate Workshops, Advanced I (soldering), and Advanced II (microcontroller) — plus programming classes. The technology stack is non-proprietary: RobotCity uses commercially available kits and educational tools from third parties including Snap Circuits, Cubelets modular robotics, Hexbug toys, 4M kits, Tamiya robots, and Strandbeest kits. Workshop attendees typically build and take home their robot projects, which functions as both a learning artifact and a customer takeaway.

The business model combines one-time transactional services and retail. Workshops are priced per student ($35-$75), camps at $50 half-day / $100 full-day (with a $450 full-week option cited), birthday parties at a $350 base plus $50 per additional guest (in-store) or with a $150 deposit plus $25 per-guest materials fee (virtual), after-school programs are delivered at schools on 6-20 week cycles, and the webstore sells robot kits and DIY building products direct-to-consumer. The company has no external funding, is founder-owned, and operates with 1-10 employees.

Name

RobotCity Workshop

Legal name

Robot City Workshop

Website

https://robotcityworkshop.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

RobotCity Workshop is a Chicago-based, single-location robotics education and retail business founded in 2008 that delivers hands-on robot-building workshops, camps, birthday parties, and after-school programs to children and families in the Chicagoland area, supplemented by an online kit webstore.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

STEM Education and Robotics Retail

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Computer Training (61142)

akta.pro primary industry

Robotics After-School & Enrichment Clubs (EDAMADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Robotics, Engineering & Makers Camps (EDAMALAE), Robotics Learning Platforms (EDAFANAB)

Keywords

• Robotics education classes
• STEM enrichment programs
• Robot birthday parties
• Robotics summer camps
• Robot kit retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Educational Workshops and Classes: RobotCity offers tiered workshop programs at different skill levels including Beginner Workshops ($35 for first student, $15 for additional), Intermediate Workshops, Soldering Workshops ($75), and Microcontroller Workshops. Classes run approximately 1-3 hours and include materials.
2. Summer and Day-Off Camps: Camps are offered in half-day ($50) and full-day ($100) formats during school breaks including summer, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and holidays. Pricing includes all materials and robot kits that children take home.
3. Birthday Parties: Robot birthday parties serve as a flagship offering. Base price of $350 includes materials and shipping for up to 7 guests, with $50 per additional guest. Virtual birthday party options are also available.
4. Webstore / E-commerce: Online sales of robot kits, robotics products, and DIY building kits through the company's webstore.
5. After-School Programs: After-school enrichment programs conducted at local elementary schools and other locations throughout the Chicagoland area. Programs run 6-20 weeks, one day per week for one hour per session.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

RobotCity Workshop operates a Chicago-based educational robotics center that delivers hands-on STEM workshops, summer/day-off camps, after-school programs, birthday parties, and date-night events for children and families. The business also retails consumer robot DIY kits, parts, and toys through an in-store and online webstore, and offers off-site robotics programs for community events and schools.

Product overview

RobotCity Workshop is Chicago's robot headquarters since 2008, offering a comprehensive robotics education ecosystem. The core offering consists of hands-on robot building workshops at four skill levels (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced I Soldering, Advanced II Microcontroller), supplemented by recurring after school programs deployed in approximately 30 Chicago-area classrooms, and seasonal day camps including summer programs. The service portfolio extends to themed birthday parties (award-winning) and special events such as Robot Date Night for adults. All workshop attendees build and keep robot projects. A webstore complements the education business by retailing robot DIY kits, Snap Circuits, Cubelets modular robotics, and Hexbug toys for at-home use.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Robot Building Workshops Hands-on in-store robotics workshop sessions in which children design, build, and program robots using kits and components provided on-site; geared toward families and youth in the Chicago area.
• After-School Robotics Programs Recurring robotics enrichment sessions held at partner schools, designed for K-8 students as an after-school STEM activity; sold to parents and offered through school partnerships.
• Summer and Day-Off Camps Multi-day, full-day and half-day robotics day camps at the Chicago facility during school breaks, combining robot building, programming, and themed challenges.
• Robot Birthday Parties Hosted robot-themed birthday party packages at the RobotCity facility, including guided robot-building activities, party host, and reserved space for children's birthday celebrations.
• Robot Date Night Adult-oriented evening events in which parents or adults build and program robots together as a social/educational activity.
• Robot DIY Kits, Parts, and Toys Webstore Online and in-store retail of robot DIY kits, replacement parts, batteries, accessories, and toys; the retail arm supports the workshop business and lets customers continue building at home.
• Programming Classes Classroom-style programming instruction tied to the robotics curriculum, teaching coding fundamentals (e.g., block-based and entry-level programming) using robot platforms.
• Off-Site Robotics Programs and Events Traveling robotics programs brought to schools, libraries, community events, and private functions, where RobotCity staff deliver robot-building activities at the host location.
• Field Trips to RobotCity Guided field trip experiences for school classes, scout troops, and youth groups visiting the RobotCity Workshop facility for a structured robotics session.
• Virtual Programs Live online robotics instruction delivered remotely, providing a virtual alternative to in-person workshops and camps for students outside the immediate Chicago area or during off-hours.

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Innovation First Labs (ChiTAG Partnership)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014RobotCity Workshop announced a partnership with Innovation First Labs in 2014 for the Chicago Toy and Game Fair (ChiTAG). The partnership enabled RobotCity to showcase HEXBUG products and robotics at the annual fair.
• Museum of Science and IndustryminorOthersRobotCity Workshop conducts Robot Carnivals and workshop demonstrations at the Museum of Science and Industry, bringing robotics education to museum visitors.
• Chicago Area LibrariesminorOthersRobotCity Workshop conducts workshop demonstrations and robot activities at local Chicago libraries as part of community outreach and educational programming.
• Chicago Area SchoolscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRobotCity Workshop provides after-school robotics enrichment programs at over 30 Chicago area schools including St. Thomas the Apostle, Intercultural Montessori, O.A. Thorp Scholastic Academy, and others. Programs run 6-20 weeks per school year.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Engineering For Kids: STEM enrichment franchise delivering after-school programs, camps, and birthday parties in engineering, robotics, and coding — overlapping curriculum, customer segment, and school-distribution model.
• STEM For Kids: STEM franchise providing hands-on robotics, engineering, and coding programs in schools, camps, and events. Comparable target customer (children/families) and program structure.
• Club SciKidz: STEM summer-camp and after-school provider offering robotics, engineering, and science programs. Highly comparable seasonal camp and enrichment portfolio.
• Bricks 4 Kidz: National franchise offering LEGO-based after-school enrichment, camps, and birthday parties — directly comparable operating model and target customer (children/families) to RobotCity's robotics programs.
• Snapology: Franchise providing STEM, LEGO-robotics, and engineering after-school programs, camps, and birthday parties. Closely comparable service mix and school-deployment model to RobotCity.
• Mad Science: Established science enrichment franchise running after-school programs, camps, and birthday parties with strong school-distribution channels. Closely comparable franchise-based STEM enrichment model.
• Code Ninjas: National franchise for kids' coding and robotics after-school programs and camps. Competes for the same school-channel partnerships and parent STEM-enrichment dollars.

Emerging players

• MakerKids: Makerspace-style STEM programs for kids including robotics and coding camps/workshops. Comparable hands-on, project-take-home pedagogy, though with a makerspace positioning.
• iCode: STEM/robotics education center concept teaching coding, robotics, and microcontrollers to children. Comparable curriculum tier (beginner through microcontrollers) and kids-only classroom format.

Broad incumbents

• Sphero: Larger education-robotics company selling programmable robots (Sphero, littleBits) widely used in schools and STEM kits. Comparable end-customer (kids/families/schools) and overlap in robotics-kit resale category.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/robotcitychi
• Facebookfacebook.com/robotcitychi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/robotcity-workshop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 RobotCity Workshop