Hardware Club, a France-based community for hardware technology startups, has completed the final close of a $50m debut fund that counts contract manufacturing services provider Foxconn as a limited partner.
Hardware Club Fund 1 reached a $28m first close in June 2017 following contributions from Foxconn, state-owned investment bank BPIfrance’s French Tech Acceleration funds, financial services firm Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and venture capital firm Mistletoe.
Commitments from venture capital investment platform Isomer Capital and VC firm Draper Esprit have taken the fund to a final close.
Hardware Club will use the fund to invest in hardware startups in Europe and the US, with a focus on smart home technology, connected transport and smart buildings.
Since the first close in June, Hardware Club has backed 28 companies including electronic bicycle producer Cowboy Bike, facial authentication identification platform Alcatraz AI and robotics developers Automata and Left Hand Robotics.
The firm plans to invest in another 20 startups out of the fund in the next 18 months. Hardware Club, which has offices in San Francisco, Paris and Tokyo, gives members free access to resources such as strategic partners, manufacturers and distributors, as well as funding.
The community has more than 150 partners including Foxconn, e-commerce and home technology group Amazon, electronics manufacturer Pegatron and carmaker Honda.