A Cambridge-based British technology company that designs the Raspberry Pi small computers and its own chips, with its boards made at the Sony factory in Pencoed, South Wales.
Raspberry Pi designs low-cost, credit-card-sized computers and, increasingly, its own computer chips. The first Raspberry Pi launched in 2012 at about $35 to encourage more young people in the UK to study computer science. It was quickly adopted by hobbyists and, later, by industry. Around 40% of annual sales were going to industrial and Internet of Things uses in 2021, and Wikipedia says industrial customers made up about 70% of 2024 sales. The company also publishes books and magazines through Raspberry Pi Press. Over 68 million boards had been sold by March 2025, according to Wikipedia.
The company began as a commercial arm of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a charity set up in 2008 by a small group in Cambridge that included Eben Upton, who is now chief executive. The Foundation's goal was to promote the study of computer science in schools, and the Foundation's mission today is to give young people "the knowledge, skills, and confidence to use computers and digital technologies effectively". The trading company was set up in 2012 and its profits have supported the Foundation's educational work. The two organisations now operate independently, but the Foundation is still a major shareholder.
Raspberry Pi's head office is in the Maurice Wilkes Building at St John's Innovation Park, Cambridge, where a retail shop also opened in 2019. Its boards have been made in the UK since 2012 at the Sony UK Technology Centre in Pencoed, near Bridgend in South Wales. A 2023 Cambridge business school article says production moved onshore to Wales, where a division of Sony makes the computer. By the time of the 10 million milestone the Pencoed site had grown by 200 people to 540. A job listing site showed about 191 employees at Raspberry Pi itself, though that figure may have changed.
On culture, Mr Upton describes Raspberry Pi as a champion of general-purpose computing, and says the Pi freed thousands of engineers from having to build basic hardware platforms from scratch. About 95% of units are exported, and he has said he was struck by how popular the Pi is in places such as Kenya and Ghana. We did not find a values statement for the company. The company has also said it is shifting from air to sea freight to cut its carbon footprint.
The open roles listed on a jobs site covered integrated circuit design and verification, digital implementation and design for test, as well as infrastructure and networking, and workplace engineering. A company like this also needs software developers, hardware designers, product managers, supply chain staff, community and education teams, finance and marketing. Computing, electronics and engineering are the obvious paths, and many Pi engineers will have started as hobbyists.
Website: www.raspberrypi.com
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