Samsung Next

Samsung Next

Samsung Next launched in 2013 as Samsung Global Innovation Center, rebranding in 2017 to signal a broader mandate beyond early-stage venture. David Eun, a former Google and Time Warner executive, was hired by Samsung Electronics to build a Silicon Valley bridgehead that could source and invest in category-defining software and hardware startups. The unit functions as a strategic corporate venture capital arm, but its structure — separate offices, dedicated partnership, and an explicit mandate to incubate and acquire — gives it more operational latitude than traditional CVCs. The Lee family's Samsung Group provides the underlying capital, though Samsung Next deploys from Samsung Electronics' balance sheet, not a treated family-office vehicle. The firm writes checks from seed to Series B, with initial investments typically ranging from $1 million to $5 million. It runs a dual-track model: direct venture investing alongside a startup incubation program called Next Studio, which builds ideas internally for eventual spin-out. Asset-class focus is exclusively venture equity in frontier technology — software, hardware, and deep tech. Coverage spans enterprise infrastructure (DevOps, cybersecurity), consumer platforms (media, gaming), and emerging computational fields (quantum, advanced AI). Confirmed portfolio positions include Fastly (edge computing, exited via 2019 IPO per SEC filings), Mapillary (acquired by Facebook, 2020 per company blog), and DivX, which Samsung acquired outright. Geographic exposure concentrates on North America, Israel, and Europe, with offices in Mountain View, Tel Aviv, and Berlin — reflecting a deliberate strategy to tap distinct research and startup clusters outside Korea. Samsung Next employs a lean team of investors and operators across three continents, with David Eun overseeing all strategy and Brendon Kim leading the US investment team as Managing Director. Headcount is not publicly disclosed. The firm has no disclosed limited partnerships — deployment comes directly from the parent corporation. In November 2023, Samsung Next announced a formal expansion of its AI investment thesis, explicitly targeting generative infrastructure and vertical application companies (per Samsung Next blog, November 2023). The firm also maintains the Samsung Catalyst Fund, a separate early-stage vehicle co-managed with Samsung Electronics' components business, focused on semiconductors and materials — though this operates under a different team and does not fall under Samsung Next's direct purview. What distinguishes Samsung Next from standard corporate venture arms is its synthetic operating model: it blends VC investing, internal startup creation, and a direct line to Samsung Electronics' engineering and supply-chain assets without requiring portfolio companies to serve the parent. This creates an optionality advantage — startups get access to Samsung's global manufacturing and distribution infrastructure but are not forced into commercial agreements. The succession link to the broader Samsung Group remains implicit; the firm sits inside the corporate structure rather than a Lee family holding entity, but its long-duration capital and tolerance for technical bets mirror a patient family-fund posture more than a quarterly-driven corporate budget.