California boy, 13, builds Braille printer with Lego kit, starts company with Intel funding

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 touch-based writing system for the visually impaired.

Last year, Shubham built a Braille printer with a Lego robotics kit as a school science fair project after learning that current printers cost at least $2,000 — too expensive for most blind readers.

After his Lego-based printer won numerous awards and enthusiastic support from the blind community, Shubham started Braigo Labs this past summer with an initial $35,000 investment from his dad.

In November, tech giant Intel Corp. invested an undisclosed amount of venture capital in Shubham's startup, making him perhaps the youngest entrepreneur to receive such funding.