We are a venture capital firm that helps fearless founders tackle hard problems with capital, resources and collaboration.
We invest from pre-seed to series A in companies that leverage technology to digitize, automate and decarbonize the world.
What is HCVC?
HCVC is an early-stage fund dedicated to hardtech startups. We focus mostly on early-stage investments, from Pre-Seed to Series A.
HCVC also manages a global selective community called Hardware Club. It has offices in Paris and San Francisco with a global, interdisciplinary team.
What is Hardtech?
Solving a hard technological problem using an interdisciplinary mix of technology and engineering. Hardtech startups face technological risk in their early days and need patient and supportive capital to help them go through R&D cycles. HCVC exists to bring this type of capital to the most ambitious hardtech founders.
What is HCVC’s Investment Thesis?
We invest in early-stage companies that automate and digitize the physical world. We partner with companies building software- or hardware-based products (or a combination of both) as long as they are able to create long-term competitive advantages through technical defensibility. Members of Hardware Club and Hardware Club alumni are our first source of new investments, but we also invest in companies outside of Hardware Club. We invest as early as formation of the company and as late as Series A. Our check size ranges from $100k to $2.5m.
Can HCVC lead a round?
We can and do lead rounds (mostly at pre-seed or seed) or co-invest with other investors. Whether we lead or follow depends on several factors which include round size, geography and our team’s expertise on a specific market.
Does HCVC invest globally?
We tend to invest most in Europe and North America, but we are always excited to meet talented founders everywhere in the world.
How do you evaluate startups?
For both investment and membership in Hardware Club, we only consider startups that are hardtech, or come from Hardware Club alumni. Out of respect for the collaborative nature of Hardware Club, we do not accept companies that we believe are competitive with members of Hardware Club.
We believe that the best hardtech companies can come from anywhere, which is why we are agnostic as to stage, geography, and B2B/B2C products. However, we expect you to have at least a functional prototype so that we know you’ve put in the work.
Success in hardtech requires the right kind of founder. We put just as much time into understanding how you and your team work together, how you face tough challenges, and whether you will benefit from and contribute to our community.
How do I seek investment from HCVC?
You should first apply to Hardware Club. The best way for us to get to know you is to evaluate you as a member of our community. You will have a better chance of being noticed when you’re raising money if you are already a member of Hardware Club.
Our process of evaluating companies for investment begins with the same conversation we would have with you as a prospective member of Hardware Club. We may have multiple conversations with you and introduce you to different people at HCVC. If these conversations go well, we will schedule a partner meeting, where all our partners get to know you better.
In the partner meeting, we will ask you to put together a short deck to present for 15-20 minutes followed by 25-30 minutes of questions. We like to keep these meetings focused on short, data-driven discussion.
We debrief during our regular team meetings. Because we are thorough, sometimes it can take us a few weeks to make a decision. Please be patient.