LittleBits reimagines Lego with $11.1m

LittleBits, an electronics startup linked to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has received $11.1m in venture backing.

The New York-based startup is manufacturing electric components that snap together with magnets to form circuits which can easily be dismantled and reassembled as a new device. Its aim is to provide a fun, educational toolkit for experimenting with electric components, aimed at both young and old consumers with varying degrees of electronics knowledge, starting from beginner upwards. News provider Bloomberg described the toolkits as LEGO for the iPad generation.

The latest round, led by venture firms True Ventures and Foundry Group, has attracted a number of other VCs, including Two Sigma Ventures, VegasTechFund, Khosla Ventures, MENA Venture Investments, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, and Lerer Ventures. Overall, the firm has attracted $15.6m in venture backing.

Ayah Bdeir, chief executive and MIT Media Lab alumnus, said: “In September 2011, I started littleBits with one mission: to put the power of electronics into the hands of everyone, and make everyone an inventor. We spent the last two years focusing on the word “everyone“, and built the most accessible, most extensive modular electronic construction kit out there. We reached outside the choir and saw people who never thought of themselves as “makers” jump in and create their own gadgets and toys with electronics. No matter if you were a designer from New York or a young boy from Singapore or Educator from NASA, we set out to enable you to make something within seconds: from an electronic doorbell to a fully responsive robotic installation. We set out to make electronics exciting, easy, gender-neutral, and age-agnostic, in short, we set out to make electronics accessible to everyone. By lowering the barrier to entry to its lowest possible level, and building a core product line of diverse Bits modules I am very proud to say that we have earned the word “everyone” in our mission.”