Last month, SparkFun Electronics decided to cut ties with Adafruit Industries, an electronics kit maker. They cited concerns about violations of their Code of Conduct stemming from online interactions.
Adafruit claims they are facing backlash for reporting harassment directed at their founder, Limor Fried, by SparkFun’s founder, Nate Seidle, and a former employee.
The controversy revolves around the Teensy development boards, which Adafruit sources from SparkFun. In a letter dated December 8, 2025, SparkFun’s CEO, Glenn Samala, mentioned that the company would complete outstanding orders until January 15, 2026. After that, any pending orders would be canceled.
Phillip Torrone, Adafruit’s managing director, shared on a YCombinator forum that their dispute became serious after he reported harassment incidents. He expressed frustration that instead of addressing these issues, SparkFun chose to terminate their partnership. In light of this, Adafruit is now looking to create an open alternative to the Teensy boards, possibly called “Freensy.”
In a January 7, 2026, forum post, Torrone expanded on the alleged harassment issues, stating that SparkFun leadership ignored repeated reports about unacceptable behavior including online harassment and hate sites targeting Adafruit staff. This led to a breakdown in relations between the two companies.
Torrone stated that aggressive actions from SparkFun had led to significant problems for Adafruit, including causing their website to go offline due to excessive automated access from SparkFun’s infrastructure. This interruption hurt their revenue, and after blocking the problematic IPs, SparkFun requested restored access, which Torrone described as leading to a non-apology from Nate.
Adding to the tension, Torrone claimed that SparkFun published Adafruit’s source code without proper attribution and that there were ongoing issues with trademarked names used by SparkFun. Even though some matters have been resolved legally, uncertainty looms over whether SparkFun will continue to honor agreements.
According to a 2021 survey by the Electronics Industry Association, over 60% of companies in the tech sector reported experiencing some form of workplace harassment. This highlights a persistent issue and underscores why it’s crucial for businesses to take accusations seriously and foster a safe work environment.
In response to inquiries about the situation, Samala referred to SparkFun’s official statement, expressing a desire for success for Adafruit in the future. Neither Samala nor Seidle has commented further on the allegations surrounding their Code of Conduct.
This situation illustrates the challenges and complexities in industry relationships. With public sentiment shifting towards holding companies accountable for their actions, the outcome of this dispute may resonate beyond just these two players in the technology sector.
