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1.20.2015

13-year-old entrepreneur builds Braille printer with Legos

Shubham Banerjee started a company to develop a low-cost machine to print Braille materials for the blind.



In Silicon Valley, it's never too early to become an entrepreneur. Just ask 13-year-old Shubham Banerjee.

The California eighth-grader has launched a company to develop low-cost machines to print Braille, the tactile writing system for the visually impaired. Tech giant Intel Corp. recently invested in his startup, Braigo Labs.

Shubham built a Braille printer with a Lego robotics kit as a school science fair project last year after he asked his parents a simple question: How do blind people read? "Google it," they told him.

Shubham then did some online research and was shocked to learn that Braille printers, also called embossers, cost at least $2,000 -- too expensive for most blind readers, especially in developing countries.

Read more: Santa Clara teen builds Braille printer with Legos, starts company