Shubham Banerjee, a 13-year-old inventor, had to borrow some money from his parents to be able to develop his first low-cost Braigo printer, which is a Braille printer made out of Lego parts.
However, for Braigo v2.0 and its succeeding versions, Banerjee no longer needs to borrow money from anyone.
Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of Intel, said that it will be investing an undisclosed amount into Braigo Labs, the company started by Banerjee.
Intel said that the Braigo was "disruptive" and a "difference-maker" in the technology industry, which are traits that Intel Capital is looking for in its investments.
Earlier this year, Banerjee was recognized after developing a Braille printer that cost only $349.99. The Braigo, which combines the words Braille and Lego, is made out of the Lego parts included in a Mindstorm robotics development kit.
The Braigo is much cheaper compared to other Braille printers currently out in the market, which are usually priced higher than $1,000.
Starting out first as an idea for a science fair project, Banerjee wanted to develop the Braigo into accessible technology that is practical for the visually impaired.
Braigo was put up for display at the White House in June at the Maker Faire. In September, the Braigo v2.0, utilizing the low-power Edison development board of Intel, was showcased at the Intel Developer Forum.
The Braigo is now being developed into a more sophisticated version that will resemble a traditional inkjet printer, shedding its current look of a combination of Lego bricks. The printer receives character input through a connected device, with the characters then printed out in Braille.
Banerjee said that he is looking forward to working with professionals in the further development of Braigo, and is seeking to bring Braigo v2.0 to over 50 million visually impaired people all over the world.
At the Intel Developer Forum, Banerjee said that he is hoping to keep the cost of Braigo printers as affordable as possible.
The investment that Intel Capital made into Braigo Labs is a portion of the overall $62 million in investments that the venture capital arm made in 16 different companies. The investment in Braigo Labs and the Braigo printers is connected with Intel's mission of making everything smart and connected using the company's products.
"Intel Capital invests in the technology continuum that runs from wearables and the Internet of Things to big data analytics -- and everything in between, including silicon, smart devices, PCs, the cloud and data centers," said Intel Capital president Arvind Sodhani.
