Adafruit is a rapidly growing global leader in eLearning platforms, prototyping, and development tools, with manufacturing located in the heart of New York City. Founded in 2005 by Limor "Ladyada" Fried, the company specializes in the design and manufacture of original e-learning platforms, which Limor personally selects, tests and approves before release. Adafruit is a pioneer in open source hardware, educating makers of all ages in electronics and programming. Adafruit was founded by MIT engineer Limor "Ladyada" Fried with the goal of creating the best online platform for learning electronics and providing the best product design for makers of all ages and skill levels. Adafruit has grown to over 50 employees and has a 15,000+ square foot factory in the heart of New York City. Adafruit has expanded its product offerings to include a wide range of tools, equipment and electronics personally selected by Limor, tested and approved before entering the Adafruit store. Limor was the first female engineer to appear on the cover of Wired magazine and recently won Entrepreneur magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2014 Adafruit was ranked No. 11 among the top 20 manufacturing companies in the U.S. and No. 1 in New York City in the Inc. 5000's "Fastest-Growing Private Companies" ranking.