Andy Rubin, Playground Global LLC co-founder

Andy Rubin, Android co-founder and former head of Google Inc.’s robotics division, has raised $48 million to launch Playground Global LLC, an incubator focused on hardware startups.

The company is structured as a venture capital fund, but the regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission did not identify the individual investors. As noted by Fortune, Playground’s board of directors consists of co-founder Peter Barret, a former executive at Microsoft, Matt Hershenson, a former colleague of Rubin’s at Google and Danger, as well as WebTV co-founder, Bruce Leak.

Rubin revealed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that investors in Playground include Google, Hewlett-Packard Co., electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., among others. Playground won’t invest directly in startups but will take equity stakes in return for support and advice.

Part of the support Playground intends to provide will be to help hardware startups with distribution, manufacturing, financing and access to cloud computing resources.

Describing Playground as a “studio”, Rubin said he wants to create an environment where entrepreneurs can focus on creating new devices without having to worry about the technicalities of running a business.

“Our aim is to free the creators to create,” he said in the interview. “By bringing these partners to the table we can remove many of the roadblocks of bringing a great idea to market.”

Other investors in Playground include venture capital firm, Redpoint Ventures, China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Seagate Technology PLC.

According to Rubin, each investor brings to the table a specific strategic value for Playground’s hardware startups.

Hon Hai, more commonly known as Foxconn, Apple Inc.’s manufacturing partner, will allow Playground-backed startups to manufacture devices in high volumes.

Google brings with it access to its cloud computing platform and resources while H-P can provide a global distribution network through its footprint in more than 100 countries. Both Tencent and Seagate will help the studio’s hardware startups work with the cloud.

Redpoint will be on-hand to provide startups with financial advice and potential investments down the road.

Along with launching Playground, Rubin has also joined Redpoint as a venture partner where he will take part in identifying potential investments for the firm in mobile, marketplace, Software-as-a-Service and other technology sectors.

photo credit: Andy Rubin via photopin (license)