Shubham, 13, Silicon Valley’s youngest entrepreneur, develops Braille printer

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  Shubham Banerjee works on his lego robotics Braille printer, in Santa Clara, California.

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. Tech giant Intel Corp. recently invested in his start-up, Braigo Labs.

Mr. Shubham built a Braille printer with a Lego robotics kit as a school science fair project in 2014 after he asked his parents a simple question - How do blind people read? “Google it,” they told him.

Mr. 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.

“I just thought that price should not be there. I know that there is a simpler way to do this,” said Mr. Shubham.

Mr. Shubham wants to develop a desktop Braille printer that costs around $350 and weighs just a few kilograms, compared with current models that can weigh more than nine kilograms. The machine could be used to print Braille reading materials on paper, using raised dots instead of ink, from a personal computer or electronic device.

“My end goal would probably be having most of the blind people ... using my Braille printer,” said Mr. Shubham.

Sophisticated version

After the “Braigo” a name that combines Braille and Lego won numerous awards and enthusiastic support from the blind community, Mr. Shubham started Braigo Labs with an initial $35,000 investment from his father.

“We as parents started to get involved more, thinking that he’s on to something and this innovation process has to continue,” said his father, Niloy Banerjee.

Mr. Shubham used the money to build a more sophisticated version of his Lego-based printer using an off-the-shelf desktop printer and a newly-released Intel computer chip. The new model, Braigo 2.0, can translate electronic text into Braille before printing.

Intel executives were so impressed with Mr. Shubham’s printer that in November they invested an undisclosed sum in his start-up.

“He’s solving a real problem, and he wants to go off and disrupt an existing industry. And that’s really what it’s all about,” said Edward Ross, director of Inventor Platforms at Intel.

“This Braille printer is a great way for people around the world who really don’t have many resources at all to learn Braille and to use it practically,” said Henry Wedler, who is visually impaired and has become an adviser to Braigo Labs.

Mr. Shubham is too young to be CEO of his own company, so his mother has taken the job, though she admits she wasn’t too supportive when he started the project.

“I’m really proud of Shubham. What he has thought, I think most adults should have thought about it,” Malini Banerjee said. “And coming out of my 13-year-old, I do feel very proud.”