HCVC (Hardware Club Venture Capital) is the first community-based venture capital firm for hardtech startups. It has offices in San Francisco and Paris.[1][2][3]
| Company type | Venture fund |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture capital |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founder | Alexis Houssou |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | San Francisco and Paris |
Key people | Alexis Houssou, Jerry Yang, Aymerik Renard, Cyril Abiteboul |
| Products | Early stage investments |
| Website | www |
History
editHardware Club was originally founded out Alexis Houssou's idea to develop the world's first community of hardtech startups. Hardware Club was officially launched in 2015 with a blog post penned by cofounder Alexis Houssou called “Why hardware needs a club”.
The community
editHardware Club's thesis was that founders of hardware startups all face the same problems but do not necessarily know how to overcome obstacles. They created a community for founders to overcome bottlenecks via network effects and knowledge sharing. The club selects promising hardware startups worldwide and help them scale globally by providing support on key hardtech issues like manufacturing, distribution and supply chain.
Platform
editAll members have access to a dedicated set of resources: strategic partnerships with manufacturers, distributors and service providers, private events worldwide and an online platform to connect with a community of more than 800 hardware founders. Receiving over 3,000 applications per year, Hardware Club has an acceptance rate of under 7%.[4] Currently, more than 550 startups from 60 countries are part of the community.
Community members include: Misfit (bought by the Fossil group for $260 million in 2015), Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (Elon Musk-esque revolutionary transport project) and The Eye Tribe ( acquired by Facebook).[5]
Partnerships
editHardware Club pulled together dedicated resources for its members including access to an ecosystem of 200 partners (manufacturing, distribution and supply chain) which provides support to companies in the club. Manufacturing partners include: Foxconn, Pegatron, Flex, Jabil, Compal, while retail and distribution partners include: Amazon Launchpad, Target, Brookstone, JD.com and Harrods.[6]
As a side project, Hardware Club also had a pop-up corner store in partnership with Harrods in London, where it presented products from startups in their community.[7]
Venture arm
editHardware Club's venture arm, HCVC, collected $28 million to invest in startups.[8] General partners are Alexis Houssou, Jerry Yang, and Aymerik Renard. In 2021, former Renault F1 team principal Cyril Abiteboul joined HCVC as venture partner.[9][10] HCVC has invested in companies such as Cowboy, Caper (now acquired by Instacart),[11] and Augmenta.
References
edit- ^ "Stocks". Bloomberg News. 24 June 2023.
- ^ "Who invests in hardware?". Techcrunch.com. 23 September 2016.
- ^ "Top 10 Best Motorcycle GPS Trackers for the Money 2021 Reviews". Gpsbusinessnews.com. 22 October 2021.
- ^ "HARDWARE CLUB RAISES $28M – Venture Pulse Daily". Blog.venturepulse.org. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Inside Hardware Club's community-driven approach to venture capital and building startups". Venturebeat.com. 12 December 2016.
- ^ "Hardware Club is a Community of Promising Hardware Startups Facing the Same Challenges". Techcrunch.com. 22 September 2015.
- ^ "Hardware Club helps startups go mainstream – and it's now setting up shop in Harrods". Wired UK.
- ^ "Hardware Club raises $28 million to invest in its startup community". Venturebeat.com. 15 June 2017.
- ^ "Hardware Club names Aymerik Renard a general partner - PE Hub". Archived from the original on 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
- ^ "Former Renault Formula 1 Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul joins HCVC". Medium. 2021-05-05. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- ^ "Instacart acquires Caper AI, a smart cart and instant checkout startup, for $350M, as it moves deeper into physical retail tech". Social.techcrunch.com. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-26.