29 Apr Venture Beat: Why some VCs are investing in hardware startups
Advance Ventures Managing Director Ephraim Lindenbaum recently joined a panel of leading investors at HardwareCon, featured in VentureBeat, to discuss the resurgence of hardware startups in Silicon Valley.
Moderated by journalist Dean Takahashi, the panel explored how deep tech, robotics, and connected devices are once again becoming ripe for investment—thanks to the convergence of AI, machine vision, and demand from innovation-starved enterprises.
“The most valuable company in the world is a hardware company. It’s Apple. That tells you everything you need to know about hardware’s place in the innovation cycle,” said Lindenbaum during the panel.
Lindenbaum emphasized that while hardware has long been out of favor in traditional VC circles, that very drought creates an opportunity to innovate in sectors where hardware is mission-critical—such as agriculture, health tech, and diagnostics.
“Robotics without great machine vision isn’t great robotics. Robotics without great AI isn’t great robotics. These technologies are finally converging in ways that make commercial hardware scalable and investable,” he added.
Advance Ventures, which has been investing in connected hardware since the 1990s, continues to identify frontier markets like food systems, sustainability, and even cannabis as high-growth areas where hardware innovation meets real-world demand.
Lindenbaum also pointed to the M&A strategies of large tech companies as a driving force behind startup opportunities:
“Big companies couldn’t innovate purely on their own. M&A became a huge part of the R&D strategy… That gives entrepreneurs a clear trajectory.”
As the VC landscape shifts once again toward foundational tech, Advance Ventures remains committed to backing founders building at the intersection of hardware, software, and impact.
📖 Read the full article on VentureBeat →
