Adafruit operates out of a manufacturing plant in the center of NYC and is a fast-growing worldwide leader in educational electronics platforms, prototyping, and development tools. Limor Ladyada Fried established it in 2005, and it specializes in the design and production of unique electronic learning platforms, which Limor personally chooses, evaluates, and approves before they are released. Adafruit is at the forefront of Open Source Hardware, working to teach creators of all ages about electronics and programming. Limor Ladyada Fried, an MIT engineer, set out to build the greatest online resource for learning electronics and producing the best-designed goods for makers of all ages and ability levels. With a 15,000+ square foot facility in the center of NYC, Adafruit has expanded to over 50 people. In 2014, the Inc. 5000 ""fastest growing private firms"" placed Adafruit #11 in the top 20 manufacturing companies in the United States, and #1 in New York City.