Revenge of the Nerds: Hardware claims its place in startup society.

Hardware has long been the outcast of startup society, pushed to the fringes by popular social networks, e-commerce platforms, and enterprise jocks. But now the nerdy kids spending their free time in science club, tinkering with robots and playing with math, are making a comeback.

Today, Lemnos Labs held an event called Hardware 2.0 at its SoMA warehouse to bring entrepreneurs, investors, experts, and innovators together to stimulate discussion about the state of hardware. Lemnos Labs is a hardware startup accelerator that provides financial backing, space, tools, mentorship, connections, and guidance to its portfolio companies. It was founded by two MIT grads who wanted to create an empowering environment where these exiles and underdogs could get their ideas off the ground.

“The hardware scene is fundamentally changing,” said founder Jeremy Conrad. “Platforms like Kickstarter have made them a lot more popular, and startups are getting funding. But a lot of the talent and expertise still go to big corporations, and entrepreneurs and venture capitalists don’t know how to talk to each other. This event is about education.”

Read more.