Korea-based electronics conglomerate Samsung’s corporate venturing division has invested $15m in Nanosys, a US-based technology company that makes small components for lights and batteries, as part of a strategic partnership between the two.
Samsung Electronics will contribute funding and resources to co-develop products using Nanosys technologies, in addition to $15m equity investment from the affiliated Samsung Venture Investment Corporation.
Jason Hartlove, chief executive of Nanosys, said: "Not only does Samsung bring deep knowledge of solar, memory and display technologies and markets, it brings tremendous experience in scaling up new technologies."
At least an additional $10m will be invested from Nanosys’ previous venture capital investors, including Arch Venture Partners, El Dorado Ventures, Polaris Venture Capital and Venrock.
Nanosys had previously raised nearly $95m from these VCs as well as strategic investors Medtronic, In-Q-Tel, which invests on behalf of the US government’s intelligence community, and Intel Capital, although the company said these previous strategic investors were not part of the latest round of funding.