6. Foundry Group

Foundry Group has made multiple bets on IoT-related hardware investments, including LittleBits, a platform of electronic building blocks for creating inventions, and Markerbot, a 3-D printing resources company that was acquired in 2013 at a $403 million valuation.

Its current portfolio includes Sphero, which makes connected toys, and 3D Robotics, which designs and manufactures commercial aerial vehicles and drones.