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). Barbara Belvisi. Photo: Dan Taylor.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

The European startup ecosystem is full of interesting and exciting news, twists and turns. At EU-Startups, our aim is to keep you informed on everything that’s going on and share the inspiring entrepreneurial spirit this continent has to offer. From big funding announcements, duocorns picking up pace, to new partnerships and conscious collaborations – there’s never a dull day!. So, with this in mind, we decided to pull together all the big milestones that we saw this week into one place. It’s impossible for us to cover every announcement with an article, but perhaps this is one way we can continue to share as much as possible about up-and-coming innovators and ideas