Based in Galesburg, Illinois, Mike Acerra co-founded Lux Blox with his wife. They wanted to give children a way to learn through their hands at a time when education was moving rapidly onto screens. “Kids were spending so much time on their tablets, but they weren’t developing the same manual and spatial skills,” explained Acerra.
Lux Blox is transforming the way kids and educators approach STEM learning through its snap-together building system that encourages creativity, problem-solving, and hands-on exploration of complex concepts. From classrooms to maker spaces, Lux Blox helps kids to think like engineers while having fun.
Digital tools are essential to running and scaling the business. The company relies on Shopify as its hub for e-commerce, accounting, and analytics. “Shopify is super important,” Acerra said. “All of our sales—from online to catalog orders—flow through Shopify. It gives us the data to see what’s trending and helps us better understand our customers.”
To reach families, educators, and distributors, Lux Blox relies on Google for SEO, analytics, and digital advertising. “Google provides a lot of intelligence tools for our business,” Acerra noted.
The company also sells through Amazon, where about one-fifth of its sales occur.
Behind the scenes, logistics depend on digital marketplaces like ShippingEasy, which connects Lux Blox to UPS, USPS, and FedEx through an automated bidding system. “It’s an auction. Everyone bids on your product, and you pick the best shipping option,” Acerra said.
Going Global
Lux Blox toys are manufactured in the U.S., but Acerra sees international markets as essential. Today, Lux Blox has a distributor in Japan, with expansion planned for Europe and Latin America. “I want to see what the Nepalese or Hungarians or Colombians do with Lux Blox. They’ll give us different feedback than American customers. It makes us feel part of an international movement,” he reflected.
But international growth is not without barriers. Acerra cited Europe’s duplicative product testing requirements as significant hurdles. “In America, toy safety testing is already rigorous and expensive. But Europe doesn’t always recognize our tests. We pay for IP protection in Europe but haven’t sold there in a significant way yet because the costs are so high.”
By contrast, trade with Japan has been smooth. “It’s easy to trade with Japan,” Acerra said. “The right policies make a big difference for a small company like ours.”
Digital Trade & Policy
Looking ahead, Lux Blox is working on a digital robotics platform to complement its physical blocks. “We want kids to be able to build robots digitally, share their designs with kids in other countries, and learn from each other,” Acerra said. The company is raising capital to develop a cloud-based community where children can collaborate across borders.
This digital future brings new policy challenges. Acerra worries about proposals to tax digital services: “Taxing digital data flows is going to penalize small businesses and reduce international collaboration. It would be a net negative, especially for businesses and consumers in developing countries.”
On intellectual property, Acerra stressed the uneven global landscape: “We have IP protection in the U.S. and Europe, but our lawyer told us not to bother with China. It depends on how strong the enforcement is.”
What would make the biggest difference for his business? Fewer barriers. “I wish governments weren’t so antagonistic toward each other because it slows down trade. More trade agreements and fewer tariffs would help small companies like ours.”
The Future of Lux Blox
Acerra is most excited about reaching new markets and connecting hands-on learning with digital innovation. “Definitely getting into more international markets and moving into robotics and AI,” he said.
He also hopes consumers think more carefully about their purchases. “Your money is your vote. People say they care about human rights or the environment, but then they’ll buy whatever’s cheapest without asking where it comes from. It would be amazing if there were a way to trace how your dollar affects the world around you.”
For Acerra, Lux Blox is about more than toys—it’s about equipping the next generation with creativity, spatial reasoning, and the tools to innovate. “We’re creating a community of builders,” he said. “And in a digital world, that matters more than ever.”