Single-board PC maker Raspberry Pi Ltd will list its trading subsidiary on the London Stock Exchange from an undisclosed date in June, a major change for the company, which operates partly as a non-profit educational organisation. Shortly after the confirmation of the (albeit unrelated) IPO, Raspberry Pi unveiled its latest product, an AI board for vision capabilities, in collaboration with Hailo.
The London Stock Exchange will get a boost from the IPO, which has fallen to its lowest proportion of IPO funds in decades, according to Bloomberg research.
Although Raspberry Pi computers are often known as educational tools, they are also used in industrial automation, smart homes, testing other computers, and other professional applications.
“The proposed initial public offering aims to secure the next stage of growth and impact for both the Foundation and the commercial enterprise,” Raspberry Pi Foundation CEO Philip Colligan wrote in a May 28 blog post. . The foundation and the commercial branch will remain independent entities. .
Raspberry Pi Ltd IPO will benefit educational foundation, company says
Raspberry Pi has long been rumored to be going public. Now, it has officially declared its intention to list Raspberry Pi Ltd. on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and raise £157 million ($200 million). With the money from the IPO, Raspberry Pi plans to expand its product line and hire more engineers.
When the company's intention to make an initial public offering was confirmed in January, some computing enthusiasts feared that Raspberry Pi would pivot to more commercial products and initiatives at the behest of shareholders.
SEE: How should business leaders decide when it's time to hold an IPO?
The Foundation will continue to be the beneficiary of a portion of the profits of the commercial company.
“From the Foundation's perspective, an IPO gives us the ability to sell some of our shares to raise money to fund a sustainable expansion of our educational activities,” Colligan wrote in May.
Hailo kit brings AI to Raspberry Pi
In related news, Raspberry Pi announced its first computer for AI inference on June 4 in partnership with cutting-edge AI processor company Hailo. The Raspberry Pi AI kit is a $70 Raspberry Pi 5 computer with an M.2 HAT+ connector to a Hailo-8L AI accelerator module.
“Our collaboration with Hailo enables industrial Raspberry Pi customers to integrate AI into high-performance solutions that are extremely cost-effective and energy efficient. For enthusiasts, the AI Kit provides an accessible way to enhance their creative projects with AI,” said Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi, in a press release.
The Raspberry Pi AI kit can run neural networks capable of detecting objects, recognizing faces, and performing other vision-related tasks. It can perform inferences on video files, interpreting pre-recorded images; this could allow for greater customization for smart home setups or manufacturing. In addition, it is compatible with your own or third-party cameras.
“A major obstacle in creating real-world AI-based vision applications is the complexity of the software to integrate the camera subsystem with the AI framework,” Naush Patuck, senior principal engineer at Raspberry Pi, wrote in a statement. of press. “We've worked hard to simplify this as much as possible.”
The result is “advanced AI-based applications in just a few hundred lines of C++ code,” Raspberry Pi wrote.
The Raspberry Pi AI kit is available from approved Raspberry Pi resellers internationally.
TechRepublic has reached out to Raspberry Pi for more information about the AI kit and the IPO.
