HCVC, the Parisian hardtech specialist venture capital firm has today announced the close of its second fund at $75 million. According to the firm, it will invest in European and North American Pre-Seed and Seed stage startups working across a wide range of verticals including decarbonisation, defence, and space. Ticket sizes are expected to range between €250,000 to €2.5 million, and the firm is looking to do around 10 deals per year.
The fund is backed by LPs including the European Investment Fund, Isomer Capital, and Molten Ventures with additional support provided by Union Square Ventures’ Albert Wenger, John Elkann (Chairman of Stellantis and Ferrari), and Toto Wolff (Mercedes F1 AMG).
If the moniker HCVC and hardtech are ringing any bells, you’ll be smart to remember that the firm first made waves via Hardware Club, an initiative that helped startups find a market for physical products. Founded by Alexis Houssou and Barbara Belvisi, according to HCVC, the programme has gone on to see some 600 companies in 50 counties pass through its roster.
In 2018 that focus shifted, with Houssou going on to launch HCVC’s inaugural fund at $50 million, and Belvisi founding a hardtech startup of her own, Interstellar Labs, a startup that combines hardware, AI, and bioscience and designs, manufactures, and operates controlled-environment biofarms to optimise the power of plants, both on Earth and in Space.
HCVC’s first fund has gone on to support more than 50 companies including Cowboy, Span, Automata, Radian, Augmenta (acquired by CNH Industrial), and Caper (acquired by Instacart).
With the second iteration of HCVC’s investment capital, the firm has already invested in nuclear fusion startup Renaissance Fusion, satellite operating system venture Antaris, Ark Biotech, a cellular agriculture production startup, Transmutex, a nuclear waste recycling outfit, and cell therapy production company Sarcura.
Lead image: The HCVC team. Photo: Ashley Reddy.
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