Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club
Elephants & Ventures SAS is the legal entity behind Hardware Club (HCVC), a Paris-headquartered pre-seed and seed venture capital firm dedicated to hardtech and deep-tech founders building the physical layer of the future. Incorporated in 2013, the firm launched the Hardware Club brand in 2015 under founder and Managing Partner Alexis Houssou together with Jerry Yang and Aymerik Renard; Alex Flamant joined as Partner in 2023 from Singular and Notion Capital, and former Renault Sport F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul became Venture Partner in 2021. AMF-regulated as an AIFM since December 2016 (GP-16000031), HCVC operates from Paris and San Francisco and manages around USD 130M (EUR 120M) across two main vehicles: HCVC Fund I, closed in 2018 at USD 50M (EUR 48M) and backed by EIF, Isomer Capital and Molten Ventures alongside angels John Elkann, Toto Wolff and Albert Wenger, and HCVC Fund II, closed in 2023 at USD 75M (EUR 69M). The investment thesis focuses on clean energy, advanced computing, robotics, biomanufacturing and defense across Europe and North America, with tickets of USD 0.5M to USD 3M at pre-seed and seed. The 35-plus company portfolio includes Anello Photonics, Renaissance Fusion, Chiral, Transmutex, Sarcura, Karman Industries, Cosmic Robotics and Chef Robotics. Seven exits to date include Valispace to Altium in 2023 (USD 19.97M), Augmenta to CNH Industrial in 2023 (USD 110M), Caper AI to Instacart in 2021 (around USD 350M), Left Hand Robotics to the Toro Company in 2018, Noke to Janus International in 2017 and Prynt in 2016 (undisclosed).
Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club is a Paris venture capital firm with €120M AUM, 36 active companies and 10 exits.
- ·6 exits in the last 5 years · consistent DPI cadence.
- ·Average hold across 10 realized deals: 4 years.
- ·Top sector focus: TMT (26% of portfolio).
- ·Fund cadence: ~5Y between vintages · last raise 2023.
Sector breakdown
46 companiesGeography breakdown
14 geographiesKey facts
Recent exits
Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club sold Aryballe to CEMAG INVEST in 2025 after 8 years.
Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club sold Cowboy to Rebirth Group in 2025 after 8 years.
Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club sold Augmenta to CNH Industrial in 2023 after 4 years.
Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club sold Valispace to Altium in 2023 after 6 years.
Coverage notes
2 funds tracked, 46 portfolio companies (36 active · 10 realized). Verified weekly from public filings and deal announcements.
Funds & portfolio
Every fund Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club has raised, with its portfolio companies. Hand-checked from public filings.
HCVC Hardware Club Fund IIVC2023€69M30 assetsVC2023 · 3yr€69M30–
Unrealized
30 held| Company | Entry |
|---|---|
| Alpine Eagle Aerospace & Defence · Germany | 2023 |
| Anello Photonics TMT · US | 2020 |
| Antaris TMT · US | 2022 |
| Ark Biotech Biotech · US | 2021 |
| Atmio ClimateTech · Germany | 2023 |
| Chef Robotics Industrials · US | 2023 |
| Chiral Deep Tech · Switzerland | 2023 |
| Cosmic Robotics ClimateTech · US | 2024 |
| Delian Aerospace & Defence · Greece | 2023 |
| Dyna Robotics Industrials · US | 2024 |
| Exclaim Robotics Deep Tech · Switzerland | 2026 |
| Full Speed Automation Industrials · US | 2021 |
| Fuse Vectors ClimateTech · Denmark | 2024 |
| Giraffe360 TMT · Latvia | 2020 |
| Invoke Bio Biotech · United States | – |
| Karavela AI/ML · France | 2025 |
| Karman+ TMT · US | 2024 |
| Kyron.bio Biotech · France | 2025 |
| Lendurai Fintech · Estonia | 2025 |
| Navier Mobility · US | 2024 |
| Norbert Health MedTech · France | 2021 |
| Numi Biotech · France | 2023 |
| Orakl Biotech · France | 2023 |
| Qashier Fintech · Singapore | 2020 |
| QUiCKR Bio Biotech · US | 2024 |
| Renaissance Fusion ClimateTech · France | 2022 |
| Sarcura Biotech · Austria | 2022 |
| Spectrohm Industrials · US | 2021 |
| Surge HealthTech · France | 2022 |
| Transmutex ClimateTech · Switzerland | 2022 |
HCVC Hardware Club Fund IVC2018€48M6 assets10 exitsVC2018 · 8yr€48M610
Unrealized
6 heldRealized
10 exits| Company | Entry | Exit | Type | Buyer | MOIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aryballe Industrials · France | 2017 | 2025 | Trade Sale | CEMAG INVEST | – |
| Augmenta AgTech · Greece | 2019 | 2023 | Trade Sale | CNH Industrial | – |
| Caper TMT · US | 2018 | 2021 | Trade Sale | Instacart | – |
| Cowboy Mobility · Belgium | 2017 | 2025 | Trade Sale | Rebirth Group | – |
| Fieldvision TMT · US | 2018 | 2019 | Trade Sale | BallerTV | – |
| ISKN TMT · France | 2018 | 2022 | Trade Sale | BIC | – |
| Left Hand Robotics Industrials · US | 2017 | 2018 | Trade Sale | Toro Company | – |
| Noke TMT · US | 2015 | 2017 | Trade Sale | Janus International | – |
| Prynt TMT · France | 2014 | 2016 | Trade Sale | Undisclosed | – |
| Valispace SaaS · Germany | 2017 | 2023 | Trade Sale | Altium | – |
About Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club
Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club is a venture capital platform based in Paris with capital deployed across 3 active fund vehicles. The firm targets European and selectively global technology companies across TMT, software and consumer, with capital deployed across early-stage and Series A/B rounds alongside institutional limited partners.
Investment thesis
The platform deploys venture capital into TMT, software and consumer categories with a focus on technology-enabled businesses across France and selectively across Europe. Investment focus spans seed and growth stages with capital deployed across multiple rounds per portfolio company, supporting founder teams through international scaling and selective M&A activity. The fund structure enables longer holding periods than typical venture vehicles, supporting category-leadership outcomes in technology platforms with global ambitions.
Recent activity
Realised exits across the current platform vintages remain limited, with the portfolio in active deployment and value-creation phase. The platform tracks 3 fund vehicles, 29 active portfolio companies and 0 realised exits across the strategy's history.
Frequently asked questions
- What investment strategy does Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club focus on?
- Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club focuses on VC strategies in the private equity space.
- How many portfolio companies does Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club have?
- Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club has 36 active portfolio companies and 10 completed exits and 2 funds tracked on GP Intel.
- Where is Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club headquartered?
- Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club is headquartered in Paris, France.
- What is Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club's assets under management?
- Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club manages approximately €120M in assets under management.
- When was Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club founded?
- Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club was founded in 2013.
- What sectors does Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club invest in?
- Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club invests across TMT, Software, Industrials, Healthcare, Energy, Financials.
- What are Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club's recent exits?
- Recent realized exits by Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club include: Aryballe (2025) to CEMAG INVEST; Cowboy (2025) to Rebirth Group; Augmenta (2023) to CNH Industrial; Valispace (2023) to Altium; ISKN (2022) to BIC; Caper (2021) to Instacart; Fieldvision (2019) to BallerTV; Left Hand Robotics (2018) to Toro Company.
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