Learning Encounters, LLC

Learning Encounters, LLC

‘On the verge of some very great things’

From Left to Right: John Wagner and Tom Smith, Founders; Tim O’Connor CEO

The founders of a Racine start-up have found a way to mix science and toys and hope to inspire a whole new generation of scientists with their products and supporting educational tools.

Learning Encounters LLC was founded in March 2010 and manufactures and distributes affordable science education products including telescope kits, digital microscopes, an astrophotography camera and accessories. The company’s Web site, www.LeoScienceLab.com, is creating an online community for buyers and other science buffs with content such as experiments, blogs and lesson plans.

Co-founder Tom Smith, who also is founder of Merit Models in Racine, drew the inspiration for Learning Encounters from his work on the Galileoscope. Smith was involved in the design and manufacturing of the telescope, which was produced to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the telescope and the International Year of Astronomy in 2009.  Smith believed there was a retail market for science products like the Galileoscope and began talking with others about his idea.

In August 2009, he met John Wagner, who had been recently downsized from Case New Holland Inc. in Racine. Wagner, an engineer by training, was manager of brand communication operations at Case New Holland and was looking for new opportunities. Smith needed someone with a marketing background.  They discussed a vision of integrating educational curriculum and science toys through a Web site “that would have interesting, fun things to do and help them to share that love of science,” Wagner said.

Many companies create science products or content, but “nobody has really married the two of them together so that they supported one another beyond the sale,” Wagner said.

Smith and Wagner began looking for others to get involved. Mike Harris, who has a history of successful start-ups, joined as a founder and chief financial officer. Tim O’Connor, who has experience in the toy industry, is now chief executive officer.  Wagner is president, and Smith is the company’s product guru. Racine businessman Mark Leopold is a senior advisor.

“We are gaining traction by the day,” O’Connor said. Learning Encounters is negotiating with Toys R Us to bring five items into its stores globally and is close to securing orders from both Dollar General and Tractor Supply Co, he said.

This fall the company’s Cosmos Camera will be featured in the Museum Tour catalog.

Learning Encounters’ markets include making branded or private label products for big box retailers and branded products for gift and hobby shops. The company also will sell bundles of laboratory quality tools, software and curriculum to schools.  The company’s products are “really a stepping stone between the classroom and a career,” O’Connor said. “We really are trying to give kids some insight into what it is you do if you’re really interested in a particular topic.”
Most products will be priced between $15 and $99. Sales are projected to reach $2 million this year.

All of the company’s leaders have invested heavily in the company. “Most of the financing so far has been bootstrap and friends and family,” O’Connor said.
Wagner has sunk much of his 401(k) and other available money in the company. No one is taking a salary.

“We believe that the company is the right thing to do, at the right time with the right team of people,” Wagner said. “We’re pretty much all in on this.”

O’Connor is now working to raise $1 million in equity investments through traditional sources of angel funding in Wisconsin.

With a year of operations under its belt, Learning Encounters has adjusted some of its plans as it learns more about the market.  For example, owners did not originally expect producing private label goods to be part of their business plan. “It turns out that private labeling may be one of the things that really gets us established,” Wagner said.

The Web site is now free, but Learning Encounters is looking at income generating options, such as converting it to a subscription site or to creating a hub for science products and content and charging others a fee for being included on the site.

Participating in programs like BizStarts Milwaukee’s Ugly Baby program has helped company leaders hone their vision. “We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback about our products, about our vision,” Wagner said. “We’re on the verge, I think, of some very great things.”