Hardware Club
{{Short description|First community-based venture capital firm}}
{{Orphan|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Hardware Club Venture Capital
| logo =
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| type = Venture fund
| industry = Venture capital
| founded = {{Start date and age|2015}}
| founder = Alexis Houssou
| hq_location_city = Paris
| hq_location_country = France
| locations = San Francisco and Paris
| area_served =
| key_people = Alexis Houssou, Jerry Yang, Aymerik Renard, Cyril Abiteboul
| products = Early stage investments
| owner =
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| website = {{URL|https://www.hcvc.co/}}
}}
HCVC (Hardware Club Venture Capital) is the first community-based venture capital firm for hardtech startups. It has offices in San Francisco and Paris.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=311887695|title = Stocks|website = Bloomberg News| date=24 June 2023 }}{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/22/who-invests-in-hardware/|title = Who invests in hardware?|website=Techcrunch.com| date=23 September 2016 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.gpsbusinessnews.com/Hardware-Club-Accelerating-Hardware-Startup-Worldwide-Podcast_a5705.html|title = Top 10 Best Motorcycle GPS Trackers for the Money 2021 Reviews|website=Gpsbusinessnews.com|date = 22 October 2021}}
History
Hardware 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 [https://blog.hardwareclub.co/why-hardware-needs-a-club-1f95d9fb9dfc “Why hardware needs a club”].
The community
Hardware 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 =
All 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%.{{Cite web|url=http://blog.venturepulse.org/hardware-club-raises-28m/|title=HARDWARE CLUB RAISES $28M – Venture Pulse Daily|website=Blog.venturepulse.org|access-date=15 February 2022}} 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).{{Cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/12/inside-hardware-clubs-community-driven-approach-to-venture-capital-and-building-startups/|title = Inside Hardware Club's community-driven approach to venture capital and building startups|website=Venturebeat.com|date = 12 December 2016}}
= Partnerships =
Hardware 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.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/22/hardware-club-is-a-community-of-promising-hardware-startups-facing-the-same-challenges/|title = Hardware Club is a Community of Promising Hardware Startups Facing the Same Challenges|website=Techcrunch.com| date=22 September 2015 }}
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.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hardware-hacker|title = Hardware Club helps startups go mainstream – and it's now setting up shop in Harrods|magazine = Wired UK}}
Venture arm
Hardware Club's venture arm, HCVC, collected $28 million to invest in startups.{{Cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2017/06/15/hardware-club-raises-28-million-seed-fund-to-invest-in-best-of-its-startup-community/|title=Hardware Club raises $28 million to invest in its startup community|website=Venturebeat.com|date=15 June 2017}} General partners are Alexis Houssou, Jerry Yang, and Aymerik Renard. In 2021, former Renault F1 team principal Cyril Abiteboul joined HCVC as venture partner.{{Cite web |url=https://www.pehub.com/2017/10/hardware-club-names-aymerik-renard-a-general-partner/ |title=Hardware Club names Aymerik Renard a general partner - PE Hub |access-date=2018-01-22 |archive-date=2018-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123010709/https://www.pehub.com/2017/10/hardware-club-names-aymerik-renard-a-general-partner/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|date=2021-05-05|title=Former Renault Formula 1 Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul joins HCVC|url=https://medium.com/@hc_vc/former-renault-formula-1-team-principal-cyril-abiteboul-joins-hcvc-a486200852e0|access-date=2021-11-26|website=Medium|language=en}} HCVC has invested in companies such as [https://cowboy.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAqIKNBhAIEiwAu_ZLDh7KDIAmeDbbM3_z1WTFK0JsxcDHp5RyC3HCYEkK031GwHiw7zQWZhoCBQIQAvD_BwE Cowboy], [https://www.caper.ai/ Caper] (now acquired by Instacart),{{Cite web|title=Instacart acquires Caper AI, a smart cart and instant checkout startup, for $350M, as it moves deeper into physical retail tech|url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/19/instacart-acquires-caper-ai-a-smart-cart-and-instant-checkout-startup-for-350m-as-it-moves-deeper-into-physical-retail-tech/|access-date=2021-11-26|website=Social.techcrunch.com|date=19 October 2021 |language=en-US}} and [https://www.augmenta.ag/ Augmenta].