Raspberry Pi Foundation

Raspberry Pi Foundation
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Name	Raspberry Pi Foundation
Formation	2009
Founders	Eben Upton; Rob Mullins; Jack Lang; Alan Mycroft; Pete Lomas; David Briddock
Type	Registered charity; educational nonprofit
Headquarters	Cambridge, England
Region	Worldwide
Products	Raspberry Pi single-board computers; Raspberry Pi OS; Compute Module

Raspberry Pi Foundation The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based registered charity focused on promoting computer science and digital making through affordable single-board computers, curriculum resources, and community support. It develops hardware such as the Raspberry Pi family of boards and software including Raspberry Pi OS, and delivers learning programmes via partner organisations and events. The Foundation works with schools, nonprofits, corporations and research institutions to broaden access to computing.

History

Founded in 2009 by a group of technology figures including Eben Upton, Rob Mullins, Jack Lang, Alan Mycroft, Pete Lomas and David Briddock, the organisation emerged from concerns about declining Computer Science enrolment and practical skills in the United Kingdom education system. Early development of the initial single-board computer involved collaboration with teams experienced in low-cost computing such as those behind Broadcom system-on-chip designs and the makers of educational platforms like BBC Micro. The first Raspberry Pi Model B launched in 2012, prompting rapid adoption among hobbyists, educators and industry, and catalysing a global ecosystem of suppliers and community resources. Subsequent product releases, manufacturing scale-up with partners in China and South Wales, and the establishment of Maker-oriented events expanded the Foundation's influence across Europe, North America, Asia, and beyond.

Organization and Governance

The Foundation operates as a registered charity in England and Wales and is governed by a Board of Trustees drawn from computing, education and industry backgrounds including figures from firms and institutions such as ARM Holdings, Google, Microsoft, University of Cambridge, and Sony. Corporate activities related to manufacturing and sales are conducted through trading companies and commercial subsidiaries that interact with distributors like RS Components and Farnell while the charitable arm oversees curricula, teacher training and outreach. The governance model emphasises transparency and accountability compatible with UK charity law, and involves partnerships with national education agencies such as Department for Education (United Kingdom) stakeholders and international ministries of education to align programmes with curricular goals.

Products and Projects

Hardware lines include the mainstream Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, Raspberry Pi 400 personal computer, and the Raspberry Pi Zero series, with specialised Compute Modules used in industrial applications by companies such as Siemens and Bosch. Software offerings centre on Raspberry Pi OS (formerly Raspbian), optimized distributions that incorporate Debian, and tools supporting multimedia via codecs from vendors like Broadcom. Projects extend to accessories including official HATs compatible with GPIO implementations, camera modules used in citizen science and research collaborations with institutions like European Space Agency-related teams. The Foundation also supports open hardware and open-source projects hosted on platforms such as GitHub and collaborates with manufacturing partners in Taiwan and United Kingdom for supply chain resilience.

Educational Programs

The organisation runs classroom and extracurricular initiatives including the Code Club network, the Computing At School community, and the micro:bit-related collaborations that reach primary and secondary learners across jurisdictions like Scotland and Wales. Professional development for educators includes teacher training aligned with curricula from bodies such as Ofsted and coordinated efforts with universities including University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory for accreditation pathways. Competitions, exam support materials, and project-based learning resources link to assessment schemes like GCSE and A-level pathways, while outreach programmes target underrepresented groups in computing through partnerships with charities such as Girls Who Code and Teach First.

Community and Outreach

A vibrant global community of makers, educators and commercial developers is supported via official forums, local user groups similar to Linux User Groups and events such as Maker Faires, workshops at institutions like the Science Museum, London, and hackathons hosted with partners including Hackster.io and Adafruit Industries. The Foundation fosters volunteer-led Code Clubs and Raspberry Jams that mirror grassroots movements seen in DIY electronics and open-source communities. Community publications, magazines and online tutorial hubs collaborate with publishers such as MagPi and distributors like CPC to disseminate projects, while philanthropic campaigns and disaster-relief deployments have used Raspberry Pi hardware in field projects coordinated with organisations like Oxfam.

Research and Partnerships

Research collaboration spans universities, research councils and industry labs including projects with University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, MIT, and corporate research groups at Google DeepMind and NVIDIA exploring edge computing, computer vision, and AI on constrained devices. Partnerships with standards bodies and consortia such as IEEE and Linux Foundation support compatibility and open-source development. The Foundation participates in applied research programmes addressing accessibility, low-cost laboratory instrumentation for organisations like Wellcome Trust, and spaceborne computing experiments flown in cooperation with entities including European Space Agency programmes.

Category:Charities based in the United Kingdom Category:Computer hardware companies Category:Educational organisations in the United Kingdom