HCVC backs founders on a mission to industrialize scientific and technological progress, investing in early stage companies that automate and digitize the physical world. The firm began life in 2015 as Hardware Club, a community-first venture firm built around a network of hardtech startups that grew to more than 600 member companies across some 50 countries, and now invests under the HCVC name from Paris and San Francisco. It writes checks of $100k to $2.5m from pre-seed through Series A, getting involved as early as company formation, and concentrates on software or hardware products with long-term competitive advantages rooted in technical defensibility. Most investments land in Europe and North America, though the partners meet founders worldwide. The portfolio spans robotics, semiconductors, techbio, fusion energy, space, defense, climate, and AI-enabled engineering, with companies such as Cowboy, Automata, Span, Renaissance Fusion, and Karman+. Its $75 million second fund, closed in 2023 with backing from the European Investment Fund, Isomer Capital, Molten Ventures, and individual investors including Albert Wenger, John Elkann, and Toto Wolff, targets roughly 40 investments at a pace of about ten per year, continuing the firm's bet that the hardest physical-world problems produce the most defensible companies.
Smart checkout cart maker Caper, an early HCVC investment, was acquired by Instacart for about $350 million in October 2021.