INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It’s hard to say precisely how Sphero’s pivot to education is going in these early stages, but it recently got an infusion of funding
and is already out acquiring new startups
The BB-8 maker announced this morning that it’s picked up Specdrums​ — the fellow Boulder, Co-based startup is a Kickstarter success
story that lets users create music with an app connected ring
It’s a strange fit at first glance, but Sphero clearly sees the company’s wearable technology as a strong addition to its newfound STEAM
“We firmly believe that play is a powerful teacher
With the addition of Specdrums, we are strengthening the ‘A’ in STEAM in our product roadmap,” Sphero CEO Paul Berberian said in a
press release tied to the news
“With Sphero’s infrastructure and the groundwork that the Specdrums founders have already completed, we believe there’s a huge
opportunity to continue to inspire curiosity in classrooms and beyond.”How Specdrums will fit into the larger company remains to be seen,
but for now, Sphero is promising a relaunch of the company’s first music product the end of this year or the beginning of next
The initial Spedrums offering had been sold out after the closing of the company’s 2017 crowdfunding campaign.Sphero, for its part, kicked
off the year on rough footing, laying off dozens of staffers after the company’s glut of Disney-branded robotics toys failed to maintain
its earlier Star Wars success
At the time, the company promised to double down on education, and is looking to fulfill that goal with a recent $12 million funding round
Terms for this particular acquisition, however, have not been disclosed
