Hardware Trends 2016

HARDWARE TRENDS 2016
www.hax.co/lean-hardware
June 2016

HAX | HARDWARE TRENDS 2016 | PAGE 2
Ecosystem1
Lifestyle3
Health Tech4
Robotics5
Infrastructure6
Fabrication7
China8
2 Fundings + M&A
CONTENT
Notes:
- Many of the products mentioned are not on market yet
- HAX and SOSV startups quoted in the report are indicated in the Appendix

HARDWARE IS CHANGING EVERYTHING
…and there is no app for that
The visions of science ﬁction with ﬂying cars, jet packs, bionic humans
and humanoid robots are getting realized, but also showing their limits.
Closer to us, IoT keeps growing and entering more industries:
automotive, food, healthcare, retail, hospitality, sports and more.
Every object is being reinvented, thanks to low-cost and innovative
sensors, and the data generated. “Connected” will soon be as
mundane as “electric”.
This report covers some major trends and key examples of what is
coming in this new technical revolution.
GET READY FOR THE FUTURE!
A report by:
Benjamin Joffe
Cyril Ebersweiler
Duncan Turner
Karina Chang
Kate Whitcomb
Nick Plante
Our grateful thanks to:
The many HAX founders,
mentors, partners and friends
who continuously share their
knowledge and experience to
make the impossible happen.
ben@hax.co
cyril@hax.co
duncan@hax.co
karina@hax.co
kate@hax.co
nick@hax.co
FOREWORD

Benjamin Joffe
Partner
HK / Shenzhen
Karina Chang
Program Director
HAX China
Shenzhen
About HAX
Nick Plante
Program Director
Urban-X
New York
Duncan Turner
Managing Director
HAX Accelerator
Shenzhen
Kate Whitcomb
Program Director
HAX Boost
San Francisco
Cyril Ebersweiler
Founder, Managing Director
San Francisco
HAX is the leading startup accelerator focused on hardware.
We have invested in over 160 IoT/robotics/health tech companies globally.
with

About SOSV
THE ACCELERATOR VC 
#MEGA-TRENDS #IMPACT #GLOBAL
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGYSOFTWARE HARDWARE FOOD BUSINESS

ECOSYSTEM
CES
Fab Labs
Maker Spaces
Maker FaireMaker Movement
IoT Meetups 0 to 0.x
Computers in things
Jet packs
Further future

THE FUTURE IS HERE: FLYING CARS
AEROMOBIL
Based in Slovakia.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
1985

THE FUTURE IS HERE: JET PACKS
STAR WARS
1977
MARTIN JETPACK
Listed in Australia for $250m.
Price: $250,000

THE FUTURE IS HERE: UNIVERSAL TRANSLATORS
STAR TREK
1966 Language translation earpiece.
$2.3m on Indiegogo

THE FUTURE IS HERE: EXOSKELETONS
ROBOCOP
1987 IPO in Japan in 2014 - Market cap: $5b
2 other IPOs in USA

Every part of the hardware startup ecosystem is getting better.
• Prototyping tools and resources are multiplying.
• Communities for creation and learning are growing: ofﬂine like Maker
Spaces, Fab Labs, HackerSpaces, or online like Hackster.
• Hardware startup accelerators have spread, investors are gaining
experience and conﬁdence, leading to increased early stage funding.
Crowdfunding is also maturing: media and backers are more careful,
and creators better prepared.
• Still, many products are rushed to market. Quality suffers, they get bad
retail terms, do weak brand and demand building.
• Overall, the gap between “makers” and startups is widening.
Today’s hardware startups are found at CES rather than at Maker Faires.
Today’s hardware startups
are found at CES rather
than at Maker Faires.
THE HARDWARE ECOSYSTEM

China
France
Canada
Germany
UK
South Korea
Hong Kong
Japan
0 300 600 900 1,200
40
48
49
53
54
92
211
1,127
Source: CES
• 3,800 exhibitors
• >50% from abroad
International Exhibitors
CES: SURFING THE IOT WAVE

0
125
250
375
500
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
500
375
236
140
94
Exhibitors in Eureka Park Source: CES, media quotes
CES: EUREKA PARK STARTUP ZONE

Map by VentureScanner
1. Home (145)
2. Platform (112)
3. Healthcare (110)
4. Fitness (99)
5. Lifestyle (98)
6. City/Infra (46)
7. Smartwatches (44)
8. Automotive (43)
9. UI (40)
10. Agriculture (38)
11. Toys (25)
12. Trackers (24)
IOT ECOSYSTEM MAP

• Membership grew
40% to 170% in just
over a year.
• Non-US meetups 
= 2/3 of the top cities
IoT Bangalore
IoT London
SF Hardware
IoT Paris
Hardwired NYC
SF IoT
IoT SF/SV
IoT Central NYC
IoT Israel
NYC HW Startup
0 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000
2,319
1,776
2,013
3,074
2,841
3,028
2,397
4,086
4,712
3,219
3,720
3,959
4,111
4,355
4,540
4,663
5,044
5,664
8,288
8,701
June 2016
March 2015
Source: meetup.comTop IoT & Hardware Meetups
HARDWARE MEETUPS ARE GROWING FAST

Like Soylent Green, “hardware is people”: beyond initial
prototyping come suppliers, manufacturers & distributors.
0 to 0.x 0.x to 1 1 to Many
Prototyping Productization Production
Many to All
Scaling
Tools Sourcing, DFM
ZERO TO SCALE
DistributionSupply chainREQUIREMENTS
STAGE
CHANGES
Lower costs
New tools
Opening to startups Opening to startups

C.H.I.P.
World’s first
$9 computer
will make
smart products
the new normal
COMING NEXT: MICROCOMPUTERS

WILL STARTUPS CREATE
THEIR OWN CHIPS?
Like Google’s AI-centric 
“Tensor Processing Unit”
COMING NEXT: CUSTOM CHIPS

POWERING
DEVICES
with motion
vibration,
solar,
thermal,
RF
COMING NEXT: ENERGY HARVESTING

LOW-COST
INDUSTRIAL ARMS
Small-scale manufacturing
Automation in new fields
COMING NEXT: LOW-COST AUTOMATION

Better prevention
Remote monitoring & care
Support 10x more patients
COMING NEXT: PRECISION HEALTHCARE

COMING NEXT: HARDWARE + BIOTECH CONVERGENCE
Koniku’s “neurons on chips"
could unlock new stages
of Moore’s Law

Accelerators
Crowdfunding
Acquisitions
FUNDING + M&A
Investment

COMPANY PRODUCT FUNDING
1 Magic Leap AR/MR $1.42b
2 Jawbone Speakers, wearables $890.8m
3 Sigfox IoT network $151.3m
4 3D Robotics Drones $126m
5 Carbon 3D printing $141m
6 Ring Smart doorbell $100m
7 Codoon Fitness bands $91m
8 Bolt Threads Fabric printing $90m
9 Eero Home wiﬁ $90m
10 Sphero Robot toys $90m
11 Niu Smart e-scooter $80m
12 Mobvoi AI-based smart watches $75m
13 Yuneec Drones $60m
14 Jibo Social robots $52.3m
15 Ehang Drones $52m
16 Roli Music keyboards $43.5m
17 Hello Sleep tracker $40.5m
18 Devialet Speakers $39.1m
19 Netatmo Connected devices $38.67m
20 Parrot Drones $35.21m
NOTABLE INVESTMENTS IN 2015-16
While the most funded startups
are mostly US-based,
large rounds went to several
French and Chinese startups.
Drone startups made
a strong showing.

• Venture Scanner
tracks over 900 
IoT startups.
• The categories
attracting the most
investment are
Consumer IoT and
Health care.
Source: Venture Scanner, September 2015
NOTABLE INVESTMENTS IN 2015-16

MNCs from
traditional industries
are now buying
hardware companies.
NOTABLE ACQUISITIONS
BUYER TARGET PRICE
General Motors cars Cruise self-driving tech $1b
Fossil watches Misﬁt wearables $260m
Nokia telecom Withings smart health $191m
Mars pet food Whistle pet activity tracker $117
Mattel toys Fuhu tablets for kids $21.5
Mattel toys Sproutling baby health tracker n.a.
Midea appliances Kuka industrial robots $5b for 30%

• June 2016: Fitbit trades at $2.75b (1/4 of its peak, 1/3 of
its IPO price). GoPro lays off part of staff. Market cap is
$1.5b (from US$10b+ peak).
• June 2016: Toyota is the top bidder to acquire Google’s
iconic robotics companies Boston Dynamics and Shaft.
• June 2016: Nest founder Tony Fadell steps down from its
role at Google.
• April 2016: Makerbot, who laid off 20% of its staff (twice),
announces the outsourcing of its manufacturing to China
via Jabil, a contract manufacturer.
NOTABLE NEWS

NOTABLE NEWS: FITBIT & GOPRO

• March 2016: Dropcam founder Greg Duffy says
selling to Nest (for US$555m) was a mistake.
• January 2016: CES had its biggest year. Over 500
startups participated among the 3,800 exhibitors.
• December 2015: kids tablet maker Fuhu ﬁles for
bankruptcy. It had raised over $100m, had $196m in
revenue in 2014 and was rumored for IPO in 2014.
• September 2015: invention platform Quirky ﬁles for
bankruptcy. Quirky had raised $175m.
NOTABLE NEWS

• Product crowdfunding is maturing.
Backers, media and creators are all more
aware of the challenges.
• Some creators leverage their results to raise
venture capital. Some funded startups use
crowdfunding to launch their products.
• The amount raised on crowdfunding platforms
do not seem to predict long-term success.
• Kickstarter star and smart watch pioneer
Pebble keeps coming back with great
success.
Source: Kickstarter, June 2016
Total pledged $2.1b Projects >$1m
Technology $384m 32 (0.1%)
Design $383m 56 (1.3%)
Kickstarter Stats
CROWDFUNDING
Pebble raised
over $40m
across three
Kickstarter
campaigns

• According to an independent study of Kickstarter projects by the University of
Pennsylvania, 9% of successfully funded projects fail to deliver, and 2/3 deliver on time*.
• Unfortunately, some high proﬁle projects with over $1m in backing had issues.
Kreyos Smart Watch
US$1.5m (Indiegogo, 2013)
Bankrupt
Outsourced poorly and ran out of funds.
Zano mini-drone
US$3.4m (Kickstarter, Jan. 2015)
Bankrupt
Kickstarter hired a journalist
to investigate the case.
Conclusions: misleading video
and lack of technical skills.
Triton Artificial Gills
~US$900,000 (Indiegogo, April 2016)
Canceled by Indiegogo
Feasibility challenged by users.
*Source: Survey, March 2015
CROWDFUNDING: HIGH PROFILE PROBLEMS
Coolest Cooler
US$13.3m (Kickstarter, 2014)
“Delayed due to cash flow issues”
The creator miscalculated costs and cash
flow suffered. By April 2016, about 2/3 of
the 62,000 backers had not received it.
CASH FLOW
BANKRUPT
BANKRUPT
IMPOSSIBLE?

Coachware Augmented Objects
Smart Home
AR/VR
Active Tech
Personal Farming
Dataware
LIFESTYLE
Pet Tech
Family TechKitchen Tech
Baby Tech Travel Tech
Smart Toys
Personal Transporters
Music Tech
Audio Tech HCI
Smart Clothing
Silver Tech

AUGMENTED OBJECTS - New technologies are making their way
into everyday objects.
R&D + COMPONENTS - New research and cheaper components
such as sensors - thanks to smartphones - drive innovation.
BETTER AND DIFFERENT - Objects get better, personalized or
create entirely new usages.
MORE CHANNELS - Retailers want to offer new in-store
experiences to compete with online retail.
1
2
3
LIFESTYLE
4

Magazines
are like
broken iPads
Today
Glass doors
are assumed
to be automatic.
Yesterday
My toaster is smart and
autonomous. It recognizes me
and knows my preferences.
Tomorrow
We’ll expect more from objects, as we already do.
AUGMENTED OBJECTS: THE NEW NORMAL?

…what’s next?
Natural Crafted Electric Connected
AUGMENTED WORDS: LIGHT

Photo: Mashable
AUGMENTED INSTANT CAMERA: PRYNT

Beats brought
a unique design
and identity…
…what else
could be done?
AUGMENTED HEADPHONES

New Designs?
Axent

Custom filters
Here

Custom fit
Revols

Custom tuning
Nura

A.I.
Vi

Custom A.I.
like in “Her”?
We’re not far!

PERSONALIZING EVERYTHING?
TO OUR BODY
TO OUR MIND
TO OUR SENSES
TO OUR PREFERENCES
TO OUR ENVIRONMENT
AUGMENTED OBJECTS: PERSONALIZATION

What do those products have in common?
Dyson
360 Eye
Nest
Thermostat
Amazon
Echo
Microsoft
Hololens
Netatmo
Welcome
a. They are computers
b. They cost at least $150
QUESTION
ANSWER
Source: Dave Rauchwerk / NextThingCo
AUGMENTED OBJECTS: THE NEW NORMAL

• Consumer devices are moving from using micro-controllers
to computers, to give them more intelligence and
autonomy and reduce their dependency on mobiles or
cloud services.
• The next generation will require cheaper computing
options to become truly mass market.
AUGMENTED OBJECTS: COMPUTERS IN THINGS

• A range of micro-controllers, prototyping boards and micro-computers with
various capabilities are available to build projects and deploy devices.
• The $10 barrier was broken by NextThing’s C.H.I.P.’s $9 computer and
Raspberry Pi’s $5 Pi Zero. Is the future free or disposable computing?
AUGMENTED OBJECTS: MICROCOMPUTERS

Micro-computers are making viable an unprecedented array of
smart devices.
PocketCHIP: $49 Linux computer
and retro game console
Amazon Echo built for $10
Using CHIP
AUGMENTED OBJECTS: INTELLIGENT THINGS

INTERNET IN THINGS
SENSORS IN THINGS
COMPUTERS IN THINGS
APPS IN THINGS
A.I. IN THINGS
AUGMENTED OBJECTS: THE NEW NORMAL

Generic trackers Specialized trackers Coachware
Generic trackers are turning into commodities. Early movers are facing the
pressure of low-cost devices, specialists and more advanced coachware.
LIFESTYLE: ACTIVE TECH

The ﬁrst wave of consumer AR - namely Google Glass - didn’t meet a market.
The new generation is trying to solve issues of appearance, costs and user experience.
Microsoft Hololens
Magic Leap
Mixed reality headset
Cool Glass
HIGH END CONSUMER
Alpha Glass
Full-lens display
Daqri
AR hard hat
SPECIALIST
Skully
AR bike helmet
LIFESTYLE: AUGMENTED & MIXED REALITY

Oculus Rift
Facebook
$599
Vive
HTC
$799
Gear VR
Samsung
$99
Cardboard
Google
$19.95
HIGH END LOW END
2016 is the year of VR devices.
PlayStation VR
Sony
$399
LIFESTYLE: VIRTUAL REALITY

Samsung Gear 360
$350
Nokia Ozo
$60,000
PROFESSIONALCONSUMER
Called VR, 360, 3D or spherical cameras, they are a key piece of the VR content puzzle.
Startups, CE and camera companies are launching products from about $300 to… $60,000.
Giroptic 360cam
$499
LIFESTYLE: VR CAMERAS
GoPro Omni
$5,000

Interaction and control in augmented, mixed or virtual reality can be difﬁcult, especially
in VR where users can’t see their hands directly. Startups are offering new solutions.
LIFESTYLE: INTERACTING IN AR, MR & VR
Leap Motion
Controller, VR mount and Orion hand-tracking software
Raised $44m
FOVE
Eye tracking VR headset
Raised $11.1m

Locks, lights, AC, air sensors and more are getting smarter.
Which device will rule them all?
Echo by Amazon
A hit AI-powered product.
Amazon allows third parties
to build on its Alexa platform
Google Home
The answer to Amazon?
Siri remote by Apple
The new universal remote?
LIFESTYLE: SMART HOME WARS

Products targeting families with young children are multiplying.
Pets - as family members - also get special attention.
4moms: robotic products
for pre-school.
Raised $60m
Owlet: baby monitor
Raised $8.97m
Octopus: icon-based smart
watch to build good habits
PetCube: camera and laser
for pets. Raised $3.79m
LIFESTYLE: BABY / FAMILY / PET TECH

Technology is coming into the kitchen. New devices offer automation,
monitoring, precision or affordable versions of professional devices.
Nomiku
Sous-vide cooking
appliance
Rotimatic
Roti-making appliance
Auroma
Advanced coffee
maker
Bartesian
Capsule-based
cocktail machine
LIFESTYLE: KITCHEN TECH

New devices enable semi-automated home production of food.
This can be seen as an important step toward sustainability.
Click and Grow: grows herbs.
Raised $2.2m.
Grobo: precise control to grow
regular or medicinal plants.
Living Farms: smart edible insect farm
for tasty and clean home-grown proteins.
LIFESTYLE: PERSONAL FARMING

Instruments are being reinvented for easier learning and usage, or to offer
new functionalities. New accessories and musical tools are also spreading.
Roli: expressive keyboard
Raised US$43.5m
TheONE: smart piano
Raised US$10m series B
Keys by Opho: smart keyboard
with gesture control
LIFESTYLE: MUSIC TECH

Travelers demand better luggage. Location tracking, security, battery
charging… and hands-free movement. Samsung and Samsonite
reportedly teamed up to create smart luggage.
Bluesmart
$2M Indiegogo campaign
Raised US$6m
Raden
Raised $3.5m
Space Case 1
$920k on Kickstarter
Nua
Robot suitcase that
follows its owner.
LIFESTYLE: TRAVEL TECH

• The market for personal transporters has fragmented into one-wheelers, two-
wheelers and more. The hoverboard became a hit in 2015 until battery issues
plagued its reputation and reduced imports.
• The Chinese startup Ninebot raised US$80m from Sequoia and Xiaomi and
acquired Segway. It launched new products to positive reviews.
HoverboardSegway Ninebot MiniOnewheel Solowheel Z-board Cocoa Motors
LIFESTYLE: PERSONAL TRANSPORTERS

LIFESTYLE: THE SHOWROOM STRIKES BACK
• “Showrooming” has become synonymous with the
struggle of brick-and-mortar retailers against online
players.
• Connected devices are an opportunity to offer new in-
store experiences.
• New retail formats are being tested to feature
connected product, including Target's Open House,
Sear's connected solutions shop and B8ta retail in Palo
Alto.
• Retailers have launched special programs to work
with early stage startups, including Amazon's
Launchpad and Brookstone's Launch program
HAX Product Demos at Target
B8ta store in Palo Alto

Wearapeuthics Metabolic Tech
Precision Medicine
Implantables
HEALTH TECH
InsurTech
NeuroTech
WellnessTech
SexTech
Biosensors
Bionics
SilverTech
Predictive Care

INSIDE OUT - New devices monitor physical, mental health as well
as our environment.
BEYOND TRACKING - Remote diagnosis, coaching and healing.
BETTER CARE - Beneﬁts are improved lifestyles, prevention,
diagnostic, and enabling healthcare professionals to serve
more people better and faster.
INSURANCE - Insurance will have a key role in the spread and
adoption of new technologies.
1
2
3
4
HEALTH: TRENDS

TIME, COST & LOCATION
LACK OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS
BLANKET TREATMENTS
SIDE EFFECTS
HEALTH: CHALLENGES OF CARE

HEALTH: LIMITS OF COMMON TRACKERS
Basic activity trackers and smart watches made consumers
familiar with some health features. This created new
opportunities for more specialized or medical-grade devices.

MONITOR
PREVENT
DIAGNOSE
COACH
TRAIN
HEAL
HEALTH: OPPORTUNITIES

VAST ARRAY OF
PHYSICAL & MENTAL
CONDITIONS
HEALTH: WHAT TO HEAL?

HEALTH: TOWARD PRECISION INSURANCE
Insurance companies are expected to play a key role in the
spread of health tech devices and usage.
The beneﬁts for them range from:
• Improved user behavior
• Positive ﬁltering
• Better data
This is expected to enable “precision insurance”

Wearables that help manage conditions or heal their users.
Skin PickingHair Pulling
Nail Biting Thumb Sucking
LIV by HabitAware
For Body-Focused
Repetitive Behavior
(BFRB)
SANA
Smart sleeping mask
against chronic pain
or PTSD-induced insomnia
HEALTH: WEARAPEUTHICS
FeetMe
Smart insoles for
diabetic foot prevention

To monitor or improve medical conditions.
HEALTH: IMPLANTABLES
Smartfuse
Intelligent Implants
Profusa
Real-time biosensing implant
Raised $16m
Smartfuse
Induction-activated implant
for spinal fusion

Test your body for pre-conditions, food or medication reactions.
Proteus Digital Health
Ingestible pill-based sensors
& patch to increase compliance
Raised over $450m
BBB
Smart multi-marker
blood testing device
(for diabetics and more)
AIRE by FoodMarble
Breath analyzer for prevention
of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
HEALTH: METABOLIC TECH

Startups focusing on female health and wellness.
Wink by Kindara
Fertility thermometer
Raised $6.93m
My.Flow
Smart tampon to monitor
periods during heavy days
Vibease
Smart vibrator for discreet use
or long-distance
HEALTH: FEMALE TECH

Bionics are coming. Three exoskeleton companies went public.
Cyberdyne
Market cap: $5b
Ekso Bionics
Market cap: $98m
Whill
Raised $30.35m
Open Bionics
Open source robotic prosthetics
ReWalk
Market cap: $77m
HEALTH: BIONICS

Sense by Hello
Sleep sensor
Raised $40.5m
Track your sleep, food and sedentary moments.
Darma
Sitting biosensor
SCiO
Pocket molecular sensor
Raised $11.47m
HEALTH: WELLNESS TECH

Treatments with new devices might replace the use of drugs, for
physical and mental conditions, and bring unprecedented results.
Berkeley Ultrasound
Trans-cranial ultrasound for
treatment of depression and Alzheimer’s
HEALTH: NEURO TECH

For more information, our State of Health Tech report is out soon!
COMING SOON
HEALTH: REPORT

Micro-AutomationCobots
Service Robotics
Robot-as-a-Service
Drones
ROBOTICS
Autonomous Vehicles
Toys

Y U NO ROSIE? - The dream of humanoid robots
seems distant still. What if the vision was wrong?
VARIETY - Specialized service robots are becoming
smarter and more affordable for businesses. Home
robots, toys and drones are also making inroads.
CREATIVE DESTRUCTION - Robots take jobs but also
help create new businesses.
1
2
3
ROBOTICS: TRENDS

• Two-legged, two-armed and untethered humanoid robots that are safe and
capable are still too expensive.
• For lack of a viable market, Google put on sale Boston Dynamics and Schaft,
two recent acquisitions.
What we imagined What we can do What we got
ROBOTICS: Y U NO ROSIE?

Savioke
Room service robot
Raised $17m
Service robots are spreading: they can be found in hotels,
warehouses, supermarkets, as well as on the pavement.
Tally by Simbe Robotics
Inventory robot
Dispatch Robotics
Ground delivery robot
Raised $2m
ROBOTICS: SERVICE ROBOTS
Rovenso
Heavy duty robotic rover

Leaders
The market is split between toys, consumer and professional service
drones. Many of the top consumer drone companies are Chinese.
Notable Challengers
Passenger drone concept
Hovering camera drone
ROBOTICS: DRONES

Cars, buses, trucks are getting higher levels of autonomy:
cruise control, lane keeping, self-parking and more.
GM bought Cruise
for US$1b
eHang
Fully-automated
passenger drone
ROBOTICS: SELF-DRIVING TECH
Olli
Self-driving 3D-printed
“talking” mini bus powered
by IBM Watson

Has reality caught up with science ﬁction?
BB-8 by Sphero
Star Wars-inspired robot
Sold over 1m units
Raised $90m
Alpha & friends by UBTech
$1.3m on Indiegogo
Anki Drive
AI-powered racing cars
Raised $105m
Cell Robot by KEYi Tech
Modular robot
ROBOTICS: TOYS

ROBOTICS: EDUCATION
Startups like Makeblock create robots for STEM education.

Are sports trackers too 2015? Robots are coming to sports.
Trainerbot
Table tennis training robot
(on Kickstarter)
ROBOTICS: TRAINING ROBOTS
Robomintoner
Badminton robot from the University
of Electronic Science and Technology of China

US$100,000+ US$25,000+ < US$5,000
“An industrial grade robot arm below $5,000 opens up
a broad new set of applications for manufacturers”
- Rich Mahoney, SRI International
ROBOTICS: ARMS RACE

Social robots are getting lots of attention.
Will they get as much adoption?
Jibo
A robot for the family
Raised $54.6m
ROBOTICS: SOCIAL ROBOTS
Rokid
Family A.I. device for the home
A.I. Nemo
Companion robot
Raised over $10m series B
MOBILE ROBOTS FIXED ROBOTS

Segway Robot
A segway turned into an open hardware
platform for mobile robotics
Xian’er Robot Monk
Answers questions about life
Chants sutras
ROBOTICS: INTRUIGING NOVELTIES
SpotMini by Boston Dynamics
Picks up items, climbs stairs and
does all sorts of things

For more information, please check our State of Robotics report on Slideshare.
ROBOTICS: REPORT

City-as-a-Service
INFRASTRUCTURE
Smart Buildings
Precision agriculture
Internet of Everything
Micro-grids
Infra for Robots

TECH FOR SHARING - Better and more secure sharing
solutions for physical assets
CITY-AS-A-SERVICE - Connecting public infrastructure,
tracking and predicting events involving people,
vehicles and more for better planning.
SMART RESOURCES - Optimizing the ﬂows of
resources, water, energy, waste.
1
2
3
INFRA TRENDS

INFRA: CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS
Particle
WiFi and cellular solutions for IoT
Raised $4.2m
Veniam
Solutions for moving vehicles
Raised $29.9m

New types of networks are trying to offer easier, cheaper
connection and management of smart devices.
Sigfox builds low-bandwidth cellular networks.
Raised US$151.3m in 4 rounds
INFRA: NETWORKS FOR IOT
LoRa is an industry alliance to create networks
for M2M and IoT applications

From entrance to internal networks, buildings can be upgraded
or leapfrog to new technologies.
INFRA: SMARTER BUILDINGS
Nello: connects homes to the sharing
economy (airbnb, delivery companies) by
upgrading existing intercoms
LumenCache makes new buildings smart
by turning utility closets into control centers

• New companies focus on better monitoring, deployment and usage of
urban resources: water, waste, energy, transportation, etc.
• Smarter urban furniture gives more convenience, new features or data.
INFRA: URBAN RESOURCES
Soofa
Smarter benches
Industrial / Organic
Recycling facility for rapid process
of organic waste
Numina by CTY: Analytics for places
Pedestrians, cyclists, trafﬁc,
air quality, noise pollution & more

Sensors and drones help improve the use of resources for precision agriculture.
Robots provide an alternative to the “get big or get out” in farming, enabling
smaller, more diverse farms.
Source: https://thefern.org/ag_insider/rise-of-robots-a-boost-to-small-diverse-farms/
Pycno: wireless soil sensors and
software platform for advice
Rowbot: robot for in-season
nitrogen management
Agribotix: agricultural drones
for imaging & analysis.
INFRA: PRECISION AGRICULTURE

FABRICATION
Precision Production
Microfactories
Desktop Manufacturing
Fab-on-Demand
Industrial IoT
Smart Factories
Mass Customization

DESKTOP SIZE - Factory tools are shrinking in size
and price, and making their entry into
workshops. Tools get smarter and connected.
MICRO-FACTORIES - New machines enable
prototyping or small batch manufacturing on-
shore at lower costs.
1
2
FABRICATION: TRENDS

Continuous Liquid
Interface Production
CLIP
Selective Laser Sintering
SLS
Stereolithography
SLA
Fused Deposition Modeling
FDM
• MakerBot-style 3D printers are getting commoditized.
• New technologies offer faster speeds and higher quality, but still plastic.
• New soft materials (clay, silicone or bio-materials) are becoming usable.
Multi-material extruder
FABRICATION: 3D PRINTING

• Low-cost and smarter tools are coming to market.
• Most manufacturing requires tools to cut materials, soft and hard.
• Even electronics can be prototyped faster with PCB printers
Shaper Othermill V.Former
Laser cutting Handheld cutting CNC Milling Vacuum FormingWaterjet cutting PCB Printing
FABRICATION: TOOLS

Biotech is having its “PC Moment” with cheaper and smaller machines
democratizing and accelerating biotech research.
“We are heading towards machines that can print directly into people, or even… ‘people’.
Surgery robots will also be bioprinters” - Jemma Redmond, CEO, Ourobotics
OpenTrons: automates tedious
liquid handling
BioBots: bioprinter enabling research and
testing on biomaterials and future implants
Ourobotics: multi-material bioprinter
FABRICATION: BIO-FABRICATION

From new materials to 3D printing, the fabrics and garment industry is
likely to evolve quickly in the coming years.
Bolt Threads: creates spider-like silk
material. Raised $90m in 3 rounds.
Electroloom
Fabric printer using electrospinning
Kniterate: knitting robot making
garments from common threads
Kniterate
FABRICATION: FABRICS

New tools will allow the mass creation of custom products.
FABRICATION: MASS CUSTOMIZATION
PinPress: a shape-shifting mold for
bespoke manufacturing

CHINA
Global Startups
Silicon Shenzhen
Pragmatic Innovation China-first
Shanzhai
Xiaomization

SHENZHEN - With few exceptions, all roads lead to Shenzhen
for global hardware startups.
SPEED or TECHNOLOGY? - Mix of “incremental” and high-tech startups,
generally prioritizing speed over R&D.
LOCAL & GLOBAL - While most are China-ﬁrst or China-only, 
some want to be global from start.
HOT! - Oversupply of capital drives high valuations.
1
2
3
4
CHINA: TRENDS

• Shenzhen’s reputation has grown as the
“Silicon Valley for Hardware”.
• Makerbot, the Maker Movement pioneer and
advocate of the “Made in USA” is moving its
production to Shenzhen.
• The Shenzhen supply chain is increasingly
open to startups.
• The annual FAB global conference for Fab
Labs is being held for the ﬁrst time in
Shenzhen in 2016.
Shenzhen, the Silicon Valley of Hardware
Documentary by WIRED UK
CHINA: MORE SHENZHEN

“Why are Apple products made in China?”
Charlie Rose, 60 Minutes, Dec. 2015
“It’s skill.”
Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
“…you can take every tool and die maker in the U.S.
and probably put them in this room.”
“In China, you would need multiple football ﬁelds.”
CHINA: SKILLS & SCALE

• Inspired by German’s “Industry 4.0” plan,
the Chinese government is pushing for an
upgrade of its manufacturing sector under
the name “Made in China 2025”
• The plan involves automation (Foxconn
plans to replace 30% of its labor with
robots by 2020), smart and sustainable
technologies
• Premier Li Keqiang made a public call for
“mass entrepreneurship and innovation”
at the Summer Davos Forum in Sept. 2014.
CHINA: MADE BY CHINA

Chinese hardware startups tend to focus on “pragmatic
innovation” for better ROI to avoid “market risk” on top of
“execution risk”.
RARE
GLOBAL LEADERS
( DJI, Ninebot )
MOST
CHINESE
STARTUPS
A FEW
$
“SHANZHAI”
Getting to market fast
is seen as more important
than creating technologies
without proof of a market
While US companies
often struggle in China,
a Chinese-born startup
could - like DJI - become
a truly global leader.INNOVATION
CHINA: PRAGMATIC INNOVATION

• Xiaomi continues investing in hardware startups (55 so far). It distributes headphones,
power banks, personal transporters, e-bikes, air puriﬁers, rice cookers, drones… 7
startups announced revenue over $15m in 2015, and 2 over $150m.
• Xiaomi’s “mi-too” power play might slow down innovation by underpricing competitors.
Xiaomi Smart Rice Cooker
Xiaomi hired a star Japanese engineer
to create a cheaper, better
and symbolic product.
Xiaomi Drone
A 4k drone for less than US$500
CHINA: XIAOMIZATION
Xiaomi Foldable e-Bike
45km for $450

While Segway took years to grow a market, hoverboards went from innovation
to commodity in 12 months. Thousands of Chinese factories and overseas
importers rushed to market, leading to many malfunctions. Reliable products
and brands are now emerging.
1986: First R&D (Japan) 2001: Segway (USA)
$5,000
2016: Ninebot Mini (China)
$330
CHINA: THE CASE OF HOVERBOARDS
2015: Razer Hovertrax
$599

• Most Chinese hardware startups target China
ﬁrst, but an increasing number is global-minded.
• Chinese companies (startups and traditional
contract manufacturers) represented 30% of the
exhibitors at CES in 2016.
Ninebot is going global
Raised $80m
Acquired Segway
China is the world leader
in consumer drones
China’s robotics startups
Starting local or global?
CHINA: MADE FOR CHINA vs. GLOBAL FIRST

• Thanks to the familiarity and proximity of
manufacturing, Chinese investors feel more
comfortable with hardware investments
than their foreign counterparts.
• Chinese software giants like LeTV and
Qihoo 360 are making an entry into
hardware. The appliance maker Midea
announced its planning of 25 smart home
products.
• The local market is heating up and some
Chinese investors are looking abroad for
better deals, offering attractive supply chain
connections to foreign startups.
“Many Chinese startups
that shouldn't be funded
find ample supply of easy money”
Fan Bao
Chairman, China Renaissance
CHINA: HARDWARE INVESTMENT BOOM
“Chinese startups can go to market
in 6 month where in the US it would
take 2 years”
Jenny Lee
Managing Partner, GGV Capital

COMPANY PRODUCT FUNDING
Codoon Fitness bands $91m
Niu Smart e-scooter $80m
Mobvoi AI-based smart watches $75m
Yuneec Drones $60m
Ehang Drones $52m
uSens AR/VR controller $26.7m
Picooc Smart scales $21m
Xgimi Smart projector $16.2m
AI Nemo Companion robot $10m
TheONE Smart piano $10m
CHINA: NOTABLE INVESTMENTS

• Successful product can attract
competitors, counterfeits and
copycats.
• The ﬁrst protection comes from
doing something hard to copy.
• Entry barriers can come from the
science, software, manufacturing
processes, brand or community
built around your product.
“In China, do not use a US-style NDA.
Use a ‘NNN’ agreement covering non-
disclosure, non-use and non-
circumvention.”
Dan Harris 
Lawyer, Harris & Moure
Author, China Law Blog
CHINA: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

0 to 0.x 0.x to 1
☺☺☺
☺☺ ☺☺☺
☺
Education
Family
Tools
Speed
Know-how
Costs
1 to Many
☺☺☺
☺
Invention Productization Production
Many to All
Commercialization
☺☺☺
☺
Resources
Supply chain
Know-how
Costs
Early adopters
Crowdfunding
Retail channels
CHINA: OPPORTUNITY
Leveraging the strengths of ecosystems to increase the odds of success.

ABOUT HAX
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Hardware = People
Hardware is eating the world
#NoAppForThat
De-risk
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SYNTHETIC BIOLOGYSOFTWARE HARDWARE FOOD BUSINESS

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SANFRANCISCO NEWYORK
HAX ACCELERATOR HAX BOOST URBAN-X
2,000+ APPLICANTS PER YEAR

LIFE
HEALTH
as
ROBOTICS
INFRA
FAB
>160 HARDWARE
COMPANIES TO DATE
50% 20% 30%

LIFE
HEALTH
as
ROBOTICS
INFRA
FAB
Particle
NextThing
Nello
LumenCache
CTY
PinPress
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WAZER
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TECHNOLOGY90-111 DAYS $60-100K LAUNCHBUSINESS60 / YEAR
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“Most active investor 
in crowdfunded hardware” 5 projects in 2015
in global Top 100
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$2.5m$1.1m $1.5m $1.9m $2.2m

60+ CROWDFUNDED
PROJECTS TO DATE
$420K AVERAGE RAISE

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Hardware Trends 2016

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Hardware Trends 2016