Hydra Ventures

Hydra Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Adidas AG, established in 2011 and headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The fund was created to exploit new market opportunities by creating and developing new consumer brands and trends in apparel, footwear, and sports-related areas. The board included three of Adidas Group's senior executives: CEO Herbert Hainer, Managing Director Tom Montgomery, and CFO Robin Stalker, alongside veteran fund manager Duncan Fitzwilliams. The fund later became known as Adidas Ventures around 2019. Hydra Ventures made 9 tracked investments across fashion, hardware, sports, and sustainability sectors, with check sizes in the $3 million to $50 million range. The most prominent investment was in Carbon (formerly Carbon3D), the 3D printing technology company, where Hydra helped close a $200 million Series D at a $1.7 billion valuation in 2017. This partnership directly led to the development of Adidas's Futurecraft 4D shoes featuring 3D-printed midsoles. Other portfolio companies include Mio Global (wearable fitness platform, $20 million round), Keyto, OneFootball, and Infinited Fiber (sustainable fiber technology, Series B investment in March 2024, the most recent known investment). The portfolio has recorded one exit. The fund's strategic logic was to give Adidas early access to materials science breakthroughs, digital consumer experiences, and sustainable manufacturing technologies that could be integrated into the parent company's product lines. Investment activity has been sparse in recent years, and the fund appears to be largely in a portfolio management mode. The Futurecraft 4D collaboration with Carbon remains the most commercially significant outcome of Hydra's investment program.