Raspberry Pi Foundation

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales, as well as a UK company limited by guarantee. [6] It was founded in 2009 to promote the study of computer science. It is part of a group that comprises legal entities in India, Ireland, and the United States, which carry out educational activities in those jurisdictions; and Raspberry Pi Ltd, a commercial subsidiary that develops Raspberry Pi computers and other hardware. The foundation’s charitable activities are funded through a combination of Gift Aid from the profits of Raspberry Pi Ltd, contracts for the delivery of educational services e.g. professional development for teachers, and donations from individuals, foundations, and other organisations.

Raspberry Pi Foundation
FormationMay 2009 (2009-05)
FoundersDavid Braben, Jack Lang, Alan Mycroft, Robert Mullins, Eben Upton[1][2]
Founded atCaldecote, South Cambridgeshire
Registration no.1129409
Legal statusCharity
HeadquartersHills Road. Cambridge, England, UK[3]
ProductsRaspberry Pi
FieldsEducation
CEO
Philip Colligan
Main organ
Board of trustees[4]
Revenue (2020)
£95,818,848[5]
Staff (2020)
203[5]
Websitewww.raspberrypi.org
Headquarters of the Raspberry Pi Foundation

Foundation
A Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charitable organisation registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.[3] The board of trustees was assembled by 2008,[1][7] and the Raspberry Pi Foundation was founded as a registered charity in May 2009 in Caldecote, England.[3] In 2016, The foundation moved its headquarters to Station Road, Cambridge,[8] moving again in 2018, to Hills Road, Cambridge.[9]

The foundation is supported by the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory and Broadcom.[2] Its aim is to "promote the study of computer science and related topics, especially at the school level, and to put the fun back into learning computing."[10] Project co-founder Eben Upton is a former academic, currently employed by Broadcom as a system-on-chip architect and associate technical director.[11] Components, albeit in small numbers, were able to be sourced from suppliers, due to the charitable status of the organisation.[7]

History

When the decline in numbers and skills of students applying for Computer Science became a concern for a team that included Eben Upton, Rob Mullins, Jack Lang and Alan Mycroft at the University of Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory in 2006, a need for a tiny and affordable computer came to their minds. Several versions of the early Raspberry Pi prototypes were designed but were very limited by the high cost and low power processors for mobile devices at that time.[12]

In 2008, the team started a collaboration with Pete Lomas, MD of Norcott Technologies and David Braben, the co-author of the seminal BBC Micro game Elite, and formed the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Three years later, the Raspberry Pi Model B was born and it had sold over two million units within two years of mass production.[12]

Founders and leadership
Eben Upton in 2012

[T]he lack of programmable hardware for children – the sort of hardware we used to have in the 1980s – is undermining the supply of eighteen-year-olds who know how to program, so that's a problem for universities, and then it's undermining the supply of 21 year olds who know how to program, and that's causing problems for industry.

Co-founder Eben Upton in 2012[11]

The founders of the organisation were:[13]

  • Eben Upton
  • Rob Mullins, senior lecturer in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge
  • Jack Lang, affiliated lecturer in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and the founder of Electronic Share Information Ltd
  • Alan Mycroft, professor of computing in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge
  • David Braben, CEO of Frontier Developments and co-writer of the 1984 game Elite
  • Pete Lomas, MD of Norcott Technologies

In early 2013, the organisation split into two parts: Raspberry Pi Foundation, which is responsible for the charitable and educational activities; and Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd, responsible for the engineering and trading activities.[14] Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Raspberry Pi Foundation, with the money earned from sales of Raspberry Pi products being used to fund the charitable work of the Foundation. Eben Upton was initially CEO of both divisions, but in September 2013 Lance Howarth became CEO of the Raspberry Pi Foundation,[14] with Eben Upton remaining as CEO of Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd. Philip Colligan took over from Lance Howarth as CEO of Raspberry Pi Foundation in July 2015.[15][16]

In 2021 Raspberry Pi (Trading) Ltd changed its name to Raspberry Pi Ltd.[17]

In October 2011, the foundation's logo was selected from a number submitted from open competition.[18] A shortlist of six was drawn up, with the final judging taking several days. The chosen design was created by Paul Beech[19] and depicts a raspberry, in the style of a buckminsterfullerene molecule.[20]

Education fund

In April 2014, the foundation announced a £1 million education fund to support projects that enhance the understanding of computing and to promote the use of technology in other subjects, particularly STEM and creative arts for children.[21] They offered to provide up to 50% of the total projected costs to successful applicants.[22] Carrie Anne Philbin was the Director of Education.[23]

Mergers

In 2015, the Raspberry Pi Foundation merged with Code Club.[24][25][26] In 2017, it merged with CoderDojo.[27][28]

Bebras

The Raspberry Foundation is an active sponsor of the British edition of the International Bebras Computing competition, together with the University of Oxford.[29]

Magazine

The foundation publishes Hello World, a "computing and digital making" magazine.[30]

References
  1. Brookes, Tim (24 February 2012). "Raspberry Pi – A Credit-Card Sized ARM Computer – Yours For Only $25". MakeUseOf. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  2. Mullins, Robert (2012). "Robert Mullins: Raspberry Pi". University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  3. "Register of Charities - The Charity Commission - Raspberry Pi Foundation Charity number: 1129409". Charity Commission for England and Wales. 6 June 2011. The object of the charity is to further the advancement of education of adults and children, particularly in the field of Computers, Computer Science and related subjects
  4. "Governance - Raspberry Pi". Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  5. "Raspberry Pi Foundation Trustees' Report and Financial Statements 2020" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  6. "Raspberry Pi Foundation - About Us". Raspberry Pi. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2021. "Raspberry Pi Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales (1129409).Registered as a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales No.06758215.
  7. Vilches, Jose (22 May 2012). "Interview with Raspberry's Founder Eben Upton". TechSpot. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  8. "Raspberry Pi and JA Kemp move to iconic Station Road HQs". Business Weekly. Business Weekly. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  9. "Annual Reoprt" (PDF). Raspberry Pi Foundation. 2018.
  10. "Raspberry Pi Foundation". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  11. Halfacree, Gareth (1 March 2012). "Raspberry Pi interview: Eben Upton reveals all". Linux User & Developer. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  12. "About Us". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  13. Heath, Nick (19 December 2018). "Inside the Raspberry Pi: The story of the $35 computer that changed the world". TechRepublic. Retrieved 10 February 2023. Early the following year, Upton, Lomas, Mycroft, Elite creator David Braben, and Cambridge University lecturers Jack Lang and Rob Mullins would create the Raspberry Pi Foundation,
  14. "Welcome Lance!". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  15. "Welcome Philip!". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  16. "3. Carrie Anne Philbin, director of education, Raspberry Pi Foundation - The 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2017". www.computerweekly.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  17. "RASPBERRY PI LTD overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  18. "Logo competition". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  19. "Logo competition - we have a winner!". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  20. Humphries, Matthew. "Raspberry Pi selects a very clever logo". geek.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  21. "Announcing Our Million-Pound Education Charity Fund". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  22. "EDUCATION FUND". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  23. "Raspberry Pi Foundation's Carrie Anne Philbin earns MBE for services to education". Cambridge Independent. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  24. "Putting a Code Club in every community". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Archived from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  25. "Pi's the limit: Merger aims to create more kid coders". Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  26. Horsey, Julian (3 November 2015). "Raspberry Pi Foundation And Code Club UK Join Forces To Help Children Code". Geeky Gadgets. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  27. "Raspberry Pi Foundation and CoderDojo to code club together". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  28. Gorey, Colm (26 May 2017). "CoderDojo and Raspberry Pi join forces to create coding giant". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  29. Sentance, Sue (28 October 2019). "The Raspberry Pi Foundation and Bebras". Raspberry Pi Foundation. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  30. "Hello World". Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
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