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Jenny Young founded Brooklyn Robot Foundry to make engineering a hands-on, open-ended experience for children. Launched in 2011, the business grew from mobile classes into New York City storefronts, then returned to a mobile model before beginning to offer franchises in 2022.
Who founded Brooklyn Robot Foundry?
Jenny Young is the founder of Brooklyn Robot Foundry. Her path to the business combined a mechanical engineering education with a childhood spent making things: her official biography describes building with her father in the family garage, taking familiar objects apart, and putting them back together in new ways. Young has also described a family culture in which making—and talking through failed attempts—was an ordinary part of life.
Young studied mechanical engineering at Purdue University and worked in areas including design, manufacturing, supply chain management, and software development. While working in educational technology, she saw an opportunity for elementary-age students to learn through more active, hands-on projects. In a 2024 interview with Make:, she connected that interest to the repetitive right-or-wrong format she had encountered in educational technology.
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The company says Young launched Brooklyn Robot Foundry at the New York City Maker Faire in 2011. Early accounts add an important detail: in a 2013 SparkFun interview, Young and Dave VanEsselstyn described the business as beginning in spring 2011, with its first class held in November. That account presents the early Foundry as a collaboration, rather than a venture Young built entirely alone.
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The idea was to give children a different kind of introduction to engineering: not just instructions to follow, but a project they could build and make their own.
What children learn—and how they build
Brooklyn Robot Foundry’s approach pairs guided construction with room for individual choices. The company says its designs and building methods let children do much of the work themselves, while leaving space to decide what their finished creation should look like. Young has described the broader aim as making engineering fun and giving children room to explore, fail, and try again.
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That description reflects the founder’s account of the teaching philosophy; it is not independent evidence of educational outcomes. The practical distinction is that a project can provide structure without requiring every child’s final design to be identical.
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In a 2024 RoboticsBiz interview, Young recounted an early robot design that failed during a class. She said the experience pushed the company to focus more deliberately on reliable parts, incoming-batch checks, and testing designs before children built them. Young estimated that about 950 parts were in rotation at the time; that is her approximate figure from the interview, not an independently audited count.
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The episode illustrates how a classroom problem became an operations lesson: projects need to be engaging for students, but they also have to work reliably in a teaching setting.
From mobile classes to storefronts—and back
The company’s history traces several changes in how it reached students:
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- STEM Project & Fun Toy for All Ages: No solidering required, the robot arm toy comes with all accessories you need to assemble this. Developing a lifelong love for science, the mechanical engineering kit is good for kids, teens, adults, boys and girls 8,9,10,11,12,13,14 years old and up
- Mobile beginnings: Young initially brought classes to students rather than starting with a permanent shop.
- Brooklyn storefront: The company opened a permanent Brooklyn location in 2012, followed by four more locations in New York City, according to its official history.
- Return to mobile programming: The company says the financial burden of storefront expansion led it back to a mobile model serving schools, camps, and after-school centers.
- Franchising: Brooklyn Robot Foundry began offering franchise opportunities in 2022, according to the company.
The shifts show that the Foundry’s story is not only about a curriculum; it is also about finding a workable way to deliver hands-on programs in different settings.
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What Brooklyn Robot Foundry offers now
The company’s homepage lists enrichment classes, full-day programs on school-closure days, summer programs, parties, and special events. Families are directed to find a local Foundry because schedules and offerings vary by location. The company’s about page says it serves children and, in some programs, adults; its current homepage primarily presents children’s activities.
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The business is principally a service rather than a retail robot-kit brand. In a 2024 Make:cast interview, Young summed up the franchise model by saying, “I’m not selling kits; I’m selling a service.” A franchise description also refers to curriculum and kits as part of program support, but those materials are not the same thing as an instructor-led class.
Why the company began franchising
Brooklyn Robot Foundry describes its franchise opportunity as a STEAM enrichment business supported by curriculum, lesson plans, and training on its franchise page. A 2024 Adafruit summary also mentions curriculum and kits in the franchise model.
These sources describe the general offer, not terms a prospective owner can rely on to make an investment decision. A search result for a 2025 franchise disclosure document identifies Jennifer Young as CEO, but a search result alone does not establish current fees, required investment, financial performance, or whether a particular territory is open. Anyone considering the opportunity should obtain the current disclosure document and confirm details directly with the company.
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