Raspberry Pi Secures $45M Funding for PC & IoT Demand

Raspberry Pi Secures $45 Million Funding Amidst Increased Demand

The Raspberry Pi Foundation, headquartered in the U.K., has recently announced the successful completion of a $45 million funding round. This influx of capital is a direct result of the growing popularity of hardware hacking as a pastime, particularly during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Valuation and Investors

Founder Eben Upton has confirmed that this investment values the trading arm of the Raspberry Pi Foundation at $500 million, calculated on a pre-money basis.

The funding round was spearheaded by two key investors: London-based Lansdowne Partners and The Ezrah Charitable Trust, a U.S.-based private charitable foundation.

Strategic Growth and Expansion

“We are delighted to welcome Lansdowne Partners and The Ezrah Charitable Trust as our initial external shareholders,” stated Upton. “Their support will be instrumental in achieving our next phase of growth.”

The foundation is experiencing robust demand from both individual consumers, utilizing their PCs for work and entertainment, and industrial companies integrating Raspberry Pi into innovative IoT applications. This funding will facilitate scaling operations to effectively address this increasing demand.

Upton further emphasized that the new investors share a deep understanding of the Foundation’s business model and its core principles. These principles center around providing accessible hardware and software tools to everyone, offering a consumer PC experience starting at just $35, and fostering partnerships with a growing network of OEMs globally.

Investment Allocation

The received financing will be strategically allocated to broaden the already extensive product line of Pi microprocessors.

Furthermore, a significant portion of the funds will be dedicated to expanding marketing efforts across both the consumer ("build it yourself" PC) and industrial (IoT) sectors.

Impressive Sales Figures

Currently, the trading arm of the Raspberry Pi Foundation ships over 7 million devices annually.

To date, the Pi Foundation has distributed more than 42 million Raspberry Pi-powered PCs to over 100 countries worldwide.

Impact of COVID-19 and Future Outlook

“We observed a notable surge in interest during the lockdown period,” Upton shared with TechCrunch. “It was rewarding to provide devices to students needing equipment for remote learning, and we benefited from generous philanthropic contributions, such as those from the Bloomfield Trust, which enabled us to distribute kits to disadvantaged youth in the U.K.”

He clarified that the current sustained increase in demand is primarily driven by industrial customers as the global economy recovers from the effects of COVID-19.

“In the immediate future, our focus is on bolstering manufacturing capabilities and optimizing the supply chain to meet current demand,” Upton explained. “Looking ahead, this funding will empower us to invest more heavily in product development. As our products become increasingly sophisticated, their development becomes more complex and resource-intensive, making the expansion of our engineering team a crucial factor for future growth.”

Investor Perspective

Peter Davies of Lansdowne Partners commented, “We are thrilled to invest in Raspberry Pi, an organization we have long admired. The company’s commercial success and positive societal impact over the past decade have been remarkable, and we are eager to support its continued expansion in the years to come as the new capital is deployed.”