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Hardware Startup Hubs: 85 Cities, Mapped
Hardware startup hubs in the HardwareMap index: 85 cities and metros in 21 countries, what each one builds, and where the long tail sits.
by the HardwareMap editors4 min read
Contents
Hardware startup hubs in the HardwareMap index number 85 as of REV 26.09: cities and metro areas in 21 countries where at least one catalogued hardware company is headquartered. Seven hubs hold just over half of the 219 entries; 59 hubs hold one company each. This note maps them and says what each builds. It sits under the hardware startups index.
The largest hardware startup hubs
Counts are live from the index; the leading categories are as of REV 26.09. Linked hub names open the live directory filtered to that hub; the hub filter works for any of the 85.
The index is hand-sorted, not a census. Hub sizes reflect what has been catalogued, which leans toward companies with public products and English-language sources. Read the ranking as a map of notable hardware companies, not of all of them.
What each hardware startup hub builds
Hubs specialize, and the index shows it clearly.
SF Bay Area. Chips first: 17 of 49 entries are silicon, from Cerebras Systems and Tenstorrent to photonics makers Lightmatter and Ayar Labs. Robotics is second, led by Figure AI. The full list is on hardware startups in the SF Bay Area, and the robots have their own page: robotics companies in the Bay Area.
Los Angeles. Space and defense, 10 of 19 entries. Rocket Lab, Impulse Space, Varda Space Industries, Apex and Vast build launch vehicles, transfer vehicles, reentry capsules, satellite buses and stations. Anduril Industries, Epirus and Castelion build defense systems. Hadrian, Machina Labs and Divergent Technologies build the factories that supply them. Rockets, satellites and the machine shops that feed them sit within a short drive of each other.
Bengaluru. Electric two-wheelers and health devices. Ather Energy, Ultraviolette Automotive, River EV, Simple Energy and Oben Electric make six mobility entries with Yulu. Pixxel builds hyperspectral satellites, and Ultrahuman makes smart rings.
Boston. Energy and medical devices. Commonwealth Fusion Systems is building the SPARC tokamak; Form Energy makes long-duration batteries; Butterfly Network and WHOOP make ultrasound probes and wearables. Formlabs makes 3D printers.
Shenzhen. The tools and the supply chain. Bambu Lab, Snapmaker and Seeed Studio make printers, multi-tool machines and dev boards. UBTECH Robotics and Pudu Robotics build humanoid and service robots. Shenzhen's parts markets and contract manufacturers serve hardware teams in every other hub on this map.
Seoul and Munich. Small and specialized. All four Seoul entries are AI chip companies, including Rebellions and FuriosaAI. Munich holds two fusion companies, Proxima Fusion and Marvel Fusion, plus defense AI maker Helsing.
How hubs are counted
A hub is a metro area plus a country. In the United States, nearby cities collapse into one metro: Palo Alto, San Jose, Oakland and Fremont all count as the SF Bay Area; El Segundo, Hawthorne and Long Beach count as Los Angeles; Cambridge, Waltham and Woburn count as Boston. Outside the US, each headquarters city is its own hub, so Munich, Gilching and Ottobrunn count separately even though they share a commuter belt. That choice understates European clusters. Germany has 12 entries spread over 9 hubs, and France has 9 entries over 8.
A company counts once, at its headquarters. Factories, test sites and second offices are on its datasheet, not on this map.
The long tail: 59 single-company hubs
More than two thirds of hubs hold one company each. Several are well known in their field and sit where a founder lived, a university sat or land was cheap. Agility Robotics builds humanoids in Salem, Oregon. Fervo Energy drills geothermal wells from Houston. Boom Supersonic builds supersonic airliners in Centennial, Colorado. Prusa Research makes 3D printers in Prague, Arduino makes boards in Monza, and Nofence makes GPS fencing collars for livestock in Molde, Norway.
The pattern for founders: a large hub buys you suppliers, hires and investors in one commute. A small hub buys you cheaper space and less competition for engineers. Both work, and the index has successful companies in each. For the cost side of that choice, see hardware startup costs.
Using the hub map
Three practical uses, depending on who is reading.
Founders choosing a base. Look at what the hub already builds. A chip team in the Bay Area hires from neighbors; a chip team in Austin hires from fewer of them. Check which entries in your category share a hub, then open their datasheets for team size and stage. That tells you who you will compete with for engineers.
Founders sourcing parts. Hubs with fabrication and electronics entries, such as Shenzhen, signal a supplier base nearby. Our electronics contract manufacturer guide covers how to find and vet one.
Investors and job seekers. Filter the live directory by hub and category, then sort by disclosed raise or team size. The filter changes with each revision; this page records the shape at REV 26.09.
Countries behind the hubs
The United States holds 116 of the 219 entries, across 25 hubs. India follows with 22 entries across 6 hubs, nearly all in Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. China has 15 across 5, led by Shenzhen. Germany has 12, the UK and France 9 each, and South Korea and Israel 5 each. Twenty-one countries in all. The how the index works note explains how entries are chosen and why some regions are under-covered.
Continue with Hardware Startups in Shenzhen.
Frequently asked questions
What are the biggest hardware startup hubs?
In the HardwareMap index at REV 26.09, the SF Bay Area leads with 49 entries, then Los Angeles with 19, Bengaluru with 15, and Boston and Shenzhen with 8 each. New York has 7 and Austin 6. Those seven hubs hold just over half of the 219 companies in the index. The other 78 hubs hold the rest.
Where are hardware startups located?
Mostly in the United States, which holds 116 of the 219 entries in the index across 25 hubs. India is second with 22, China third with 15, then Germany with 12 and the UK and France with 9 each. The entries span 21 countries. Within each country, a few metros dominate, but Germany and France spread across many small cities.
Which city is best for a hardware startup?
It depends on what you build. The index shows clear specialties: the Bay Area for chips and robots, Los Angeles for rockets, satellites and defense, Bengaluru for electric two-wheelers, Shenzhen for 3D printers and dev boards, Seoul for AI chips, Munich for fusion. Hubs concentrate suppliers, engineers and investors for their specialty, which shortens iteration.
How does HardwareMap define a hub?
A hub is a metro area plus country. In the United States, nearby cities are grouped into one metro, so Palo Alto, San Jose and Oakland all count as the SF Bay Area, and Cambridge and Waltham count as Boston. Outside the US, each headquarters city is its own hub. A company is counted at its headquarters only.
HardwareMap maps every hardware company it catalogues to a hub. Open any company above for its datasheet, or filter the live directory by hub.
The index
All 219 startups, filterable by category, hub, stage and funding.