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).
Key facts
Recent exits
Coverage notes
2 funds tracked, 44 portfolio companies (35 active · 9 realized). Verified weekly from public filings and deal announcements.
Sector breakdown
44 companiesFunds & portfolio
Every fund Elephants & Ventures / Hardware Club has raised, with its portfolio companies. Hand-checked from public filings.
HCVC Hardware Club Fund IIVC2023 · 3yr€69M28 active
Unrealized
28 held| Company | Sector | Geo | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace & Defence |  Germany | 2023 | |
| TMT |  US | 2020 | |
| TMT | US | 2022 | |
| Biotech | US | 2021 | |
| ClimateTech | Germany | 2023 | |
| Industrials | US | 2023 | |
| TMT |  Switzerland | 2023 | |
| ClimateTech | US | 2024 | |
| Aerospace & Defence | Greece | 2023 | |
| Industrials | US | 2024 | |
| Industrials | US | 2021 | |
| ClimateTech |  Denmark | 2024 | |
| TMT | Latvia | 2020 | |
| HealthTech |  France | 2025 | |
| TMT | US | 2024 | |
| Biotech | France | 2025 | |
| Fintech | Estonia | 2025 | |
| Mobility | US | 2024 | |
| MedTech | France | 2021 | |
| Biotech | France | 2023 | |
| Biotech | France | 2023 | |
| Fintech | Singapore | 2020 | |
| Biotech | US | 2024 | |
| ClimateTech | France | 2022 | |
| Biotech |  Austria | 2022 | |
| Industrials | US | 2021 | |
| HealthTech | France | 2022 | |
| ClimateTech | Switzerland | 2022 |
Germany· Entry 2023US· Entry 2020US· Entry 2022US· Entry 2021Germany· Entry 2023US· Entry 2023Switzerland· Entry 2023US· Entry 2024US· Entry 2024US· Entry 2021Denmark· Entry 2024France· Entry 2025US· Entry 2024France· Entry 2025US· Entry 2024France· Entry 2021France· Entry 2023France· Entry 2023US· Entry 2024France· Entry 2022Austria· Entry 2022US· Entry 2021France· Entry 2022Switzerland· Entry 2022HCVC Hardware Club Fund IVC2018 · 8yr€48M7 active · 9 realized
Unrealized
7 held| Company | Sector | Geo | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrials | France | 2017 | |
| Industrials |  UK | 2018 | |
| TMT |  Sweden | 2014 | |
| TMT | France | 2015 | |
| TMT | France | 2014 | |
| Gaming | UK | 2016 | |
| ClimateTech | US | 2018 |
Realized
9 exits| Company | Sector | Geo | Entry | Exit | Type | Buyer | MOIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AgTech | Greece | 2019 | 2023 | Trade Sale | – | ||
| TMT | US | 2018 | 2021 | Trade Sale | – | ||
| Mobility |  Belgium | 2017 | 2025 | Trade Sale | – | ||
| TMT | US | 2018 | 2019 | Trade Sale | – | ||
| TMT | France | 2018 | 2022 | Trade Sale | – | ||
| Industrials | US | 2017 | 2018 | Trade Sale | – | ||
| TMT | US | 2015 | 2017 | Trade Sale | – | ||
| TMT | France | 2014 | 2016 | Trade Sale | – | ||
| SaaS | Germany | 2017 | 2023 | Trade Sale | – |
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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. Detailed buyer names and multiple data available on Pro at €29/month.
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