AN-092 The index · cluster
How the HardwareMap Index Works: Hubs, Dates, Rules, Part Numbers
How HardwareMap catalogues hardware startups: part numbers like ROB-001, ten resistor-coded category pins, metro hubs, REV numbers and the listing rules.
by the HardwareMap editors4 min read
Contents
HardwareMap is a directory of hardware startups organised like a parts catalogue, and this page explains the rules behind it: part numbers, category pins, hubs, revision numbers and what earns a listing. As of REV 26.09 the index lists 219 companies in 21 countries. It is the method page for the hardware startups index and mirrors the About page.
HardwareMap (hardwaremap.com) is a hand-sorted directory of hardware startups building robots, rockets, reactors, chips and the tools to make them, catalogued like parts on a datasheet.
How the HardwareMap index is organised
Engineers find parts by number, package and pinout. The index applies the same idea to companies. Every entry gets five things:
- A part number, such as ROB-001.
- A pin, one of ten categories, with a resistor colour band.
- A hub, the metro where its headquarters sits.
- A datasheet, the company page with every recorded field.
- A revision stamp, the REV of the index the data was checked against.
The directory is the full index, filterable by category, hub, country, stage and team size. Each company links to its datasheet at a stable address, so a link from a note or another site keeps working as the index grows.
The index is curated, not scraped. A person adds each entry, checks its sources and assigns its pin. That keeps the list short enough to read and strict enough to cite.
Part numbers and the ten pins
A part number is the category code plus a three-digit serial: ROB-001 is Figure AI, SIL-001 is Cerebras Systems, AER-001 is Rocket Lab, DEF-001 is Anduril Industries. Serials follow the order in which companies entered each category. New entries are appended, so existing part numbers never change. Quote the part number when you ask for a correction and we will find the record without guessing.
Every company plugs into exactly one pin. The pins are numbered by the resistor colour code, black for 0 through white for 9, so the category reads off the band the way a resistor's value does.
Counts are live. One company, one pin: a drone maker that sells to the military goes under Defense, a delivery drone under Mobility. Where a company spans two, the pin follows its main product and tags carry the rest. Tags, such as humanoid or drones, are how notes cut across pins.
Hubs, dates and the datasheet fields
Hardware clusters where suppliers, machinists and test ranges already are, so the index groups companies by hub rather than by city. In the United States, multi-city metros are merged: Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and San Jose all count as the SF Bay Area; El Segundo, Hawthorne and Long Beach count as Los Angeles. Outside the US, each city is its own hub. REV 26.09 has 85 hubs. The SF Bay Area leads with 49 companies, then Los Angeles with 19. The hardware startups by hub note walks through each one.
Every datasheet records the same fields:
- Founded. The year the company was founded, from public sources. Companies founded in the last three years carry a NEW badge. Half the index was founded in 2017 or later.
- HQ. City, country and hub.
- Status. Private, Public, Acquired or Subsidiary.
- Stage. The last disclosed round, bucketed as Bootstrapped, Seed, Series A, B, C, D+, Public or Undisclosed.
- Raised. Disclosed rounds only. A dash means unknown; "Self-funded" means confirmed no outside equity. We never estimate.
- Team. A LinkedIn estimate with its source month. Cards round it down to a bucket.
- Investors, product and tags, where public.
Unknowns are shown as unknown. A blank field is a statement that no public source exists yet, not an omission.
Selection criteria: what earns a part number
Three rules decide what gets in. They apply the same way to a two-person team and a public company.
- It ships atoms. No bill of materials, no listing. A software company with a hardware-shaped logo does not count. Something physical has to leave a factory.
- It is still running. This is a directory of teams that are building. Acquired companies stay listed while the product line lives on, with the status marked.
- It is verifiable. Founding year, headquarters and status come from public sources. No funding gossip, no headcount guesses.
Programs inside large companies, such as a carmaker's robot division, are not startups and are not listed. Consumer toys and adult products are excluded from robot lists entirely.
REV numbers, submissions and corrections
The index is revised monthly. Each revision gets a REV number in year-and-month form: REV 26.09 is September 2026. The current REV is stamped on every datasheet, in the site footer and under the title of every list note, so a reader always knows how fresh a number is. When a note says "REV 26.09 counts 49 Bay Area entries", that is the count as of that revision.
What changes between revisions, new entries, stage changes and status changes, is logged in the REV notes changelog. Entries are appended, never rewritten.
To add a company, use the submit form. It asks for the name, website, pin, founding year, HQ city and country, a tagline and a description, and every submission is reviewed by hand. To correct a listing, use the same form and put the part number in the description, with a link to the public source for the fix.
Frequently asked questions
What is HardwareMap?
HardwareMap is a hand-sorted directory of hardware startups: robots, rockets, reactors, chips and the tools to make them. Each company is catalogued like an electronic part, with a part number, a category pin, a hub and a datasheet that lists founding year, headquarters, status, stage, disclosed funding, investors and an estimated team size. Entries are added and checked by hand, not scraped.
What does a part number like ROB-001 mean?
The three letters are the category code, here ROB for robotics. The three digits are the company's serial within that category, in the order it entered the index. Serials are never reassigned, so a part number stays stable when new companies are added. The full code appears on the company's datasheet and in search, and it is the reference to use when asking for a correction.
How do I get a startup listed on HardwareMap?
Use the submit form. Give the company name, website, category, founding year, headquarters city and country, a one-line tagline and a short description. Every submission is reviewed by hand against three rules: the company makes a physical product, it is operating today, and the facts have a public source. You can submit your own company or one you admire.
How often is the HardwareMap index updated?
The index is refreshed monthly. Each refresh gets a REV number in year and month form, so REV 26.09 is the September 2026 revision. The REV is stamped on every datasheet, in the site footer and on list notes. Changes between revisions, such as new entries, stage changes and status changes, are logged in the REV notes changelog.
Why does a company have a different team size on its card and its datasheet?
Team sizes are LinkedIn estimates, which count contractors and loose affiliations and drift week to week. Cards show a floor bucket, such as 500+, so a small change does not look like news. The datasheet shows the raw estimate with its source month. Neither is a headcount the company has confirmed, so read both as an order of magnitude.
That is how HardwareMap is wired. Building something physical? Submit it and get a part number.
Building one?
Submit it to the index and get a part number. Every entry is reviewed by hand.