15 Startups Leading The Hardware Revolution

New hardware companies are one of the hottest trends in the startup world.

Instead of building apps and Web services, companies are building real physical hardware that you can buy and use.

A lot of these find life on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, where the community votes with its wallet on what gadget they want to use. Most notably, there's Pebble, a company that makes smartwatches, and Ouya, a company that makes an Android-based video console. Both companies have raised millions in regular VC money after seeing success on Kickstarter.

But they're not alone. Check out some other cool hardware startups you need to know about.