The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based educational

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

founded in 2008 to promote the study of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and related subjects globally, particularly among young people. It is best known for initiating the

Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi ( ) is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in collaboration with Broadcom Inc., Broadcom. To commercialize the product and support its growing demand, the ...

series of

single-board computer A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer. Single-board computers are commonly made as demonst ...

s. These are now designed and sold by

Raspberry Pi Holdings Raspberry Pi Holdings plc is a British technology company that designs and manufactures single-board computers (SBCs), compute modules, semiconductors, and complementary accessories, marketed under the Raspberry Pi brand. Originally developed to ...

, a publicly traded company of which the Foundation is the largest shareholder. While legally distinct, both entities share a mission to democratise access to computing.

History

The Foundation was founded in autumn 2008 by

David Braben David John Braben (born 2 January 1964) is an English video game developer and designer, founder and President of Frontier Developments, and co-creator of the ''Elite'' series of space trading video games, first published in 1984. He is also ...

, Jack Lang, Pete Lomas, Rob Mullins,

Alan Mycroft Alan Mycroft is a professor at the Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge, where he is also director of studies for computer science. Education Mycroft read mathematics at Cambridge then moved ...

and

Eben Upton Eben Christopher Upton (born 5 April 1978) is the Welsh CEO of Raspberry Pi Holdings. He is responsible for the overall software and hardware architecture of the Raspberry Pi device. He is a former technical director and ASIC architect for B ...

, and formally registered as a charity in May 2009 in Caldecote, England. Mycroft, Lang, Mullins and Upton were involved with the

Computer Lab A computer lab is a space where computer services are provided to a defined community. These are typically public libraries and academic institutions. Generally, users must follow a certain user policy to retain access to the computers. This usua ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and were motivated by a decline in applications to study the computer science undergraduate course. Their aim was to develop a computer, available for the price of a textbook, to encourage hands-on experimentation in programming and electronics. Braben, one of the founders of the

Frontier Developments Frontier Developments plc is a British video game developer founded by David Braben in January 1994 and based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. Frontier develops management simulators '' Planet Coaster'' and '' Planet Zoo'', ...

contributed insights from the games industry, while Lomas drew on his background in electronics manufacturing. After several early prototypes, the first Raspberry Pi computer was launched in 2012. Beyond the originally intended use in education, the computer was quickly adopted by computer and electronics enthusiasts. Many of these users carried their experience with the platform into professional and industrial settings. To commercialize the computer and meet growing demand, the Foundation established a commercial subsidiary in late 2012 called Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd. to develop and manufacture its computing products. The profits of this company used to fund the charitable work of the foundation. Between 2012 and 2024, the commercial subsidiary contributed nearly US$50 million to the Foundation, alongside over US$60 million raised from philanthropy and other sources. Upton left the foundation board in December 2012 to lead both the new company and foundation as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. In September 2013 Lance Howarth became CEO of the foundation, allowing Upton to focus on the company. Philip Colligan took over as CEO of the foundation in July 2015. In 2016, The foundation moved its headquarters to Station Road, Cambridge, moving again in 2018, to

Hills Road Hills Road is an arterial road (part of the A1307) in southeast Cambridge, England. It runs between Regent Street at the junction with Lensfield Road and Gonville Place (the A603) to the northwest and a roundabout by the Cambridge Biome ...

, Cambridge. In 2015, the Raspberry Pi Foundation merged with

Code Club Code Club is a voluntary initiative, founded in 2012. The initiative aims to provide opportunities for children aged 9 to 13 to develop coding skills through free after-school clubs. As of November 2015, over 3,800 schools and other public venu ...

. In 2017, it merged with

CoderDojo CoderDojo is a global volunteer-led community of free programming workshops for young people. The movement began in 2011 as a grassroots organisation with each individual clubs (called a doj after the Japanese name for a hall or place for immers ...

. The commercial subsidiary split from the foundation in July 2024, and became a publicly traded company, with the foundation as its largest shareholder. The foundation was supportive of the move, and said would use proceeds from share sales to establish an endowment for its educational work while remaining a major shareholder and stakeholder in the company's future. Following the IPO, the Foundation's shareholding in Raspberry Pi Holdings was reduced from 77.31% to 49.08%, generating to establish the endowment.

Activities

The Foundation delivers educational programmes promoting the study of

and related subjects worldwide, including teacher training, curriculum resources, and outreach initiatives. In April 2014, the foundation announced a £1million education fund to support projects that enhance the understanding of computing and to promote the use of technology in other subjects, particularly

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

and creative arts for children. They offered to provide up to 50% of the total projected costs to successful applicants.

Carrie Anne Philbin Carrie Anne Philbin is an English teacher of computer science and an author. She is a director of educator support at the Raspberry Pi Foundation and chairs the Computing At School (CAS) diversity and inclusion group, ''#CASInclude''. She wrote ...

was the Director of Education. The Raspberry Foundation is an active sponsor of the British edition of the International Bebras Computing competition, together with the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. The foundation publishes ''Hello World'', a "computing and digital making" magazine. From 2018 to early 2023, the foundation published ''Wireframe'', a

video game development Video game development (sometimes shortened to gamedev) is the process of creating a video game. It is a multidisciplinary practice, involving programming, design, art, audio, user interface, and writing. Each of those may be made up of more speci ...

magazine.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Foundations based in the United Kingdom Charities based in Cambridgeshire Computer science organizations Education advocacy groups Educational charities based in the United Kingdom Educational foundations based in the United Kingdom Educational technology non-profits Organizations established in 2009 Raspberry Pi