Korea-based consumer electronics producer Samsung launched a $150m corporate venturing fund on Wednesday called Samsung Next Fund to invest in early-stage advanced software and services startups.
The fund will be overseen by Samsung Next, the open innovation division formerly known as Samsung Global Innovation Center, which has offices in San Francisco and Mountain View in California, as well as New York, South Korea and Israel.
Samsung Next Fund will back startups at seed to series B stage, and is targeting technologies including virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the internet of things.
David Eun, founder and president of Samsung Next, said: “We see software and services becoming a core part of Samsung Electronics’ DNA, and startups are key to achieving this vision.
“Samsung continues to embrace entrepreneurship at all levels and this fund shows our unwavering commitment to support great startups worldwide.”
The fund’s portfolio companies so far include Converge Industries, Dashbot, Entry Point VR, Filament, Intezer, LiquidSky, 2Sens, SafeDK and Virtru.
US-based personal radio app developer Otto Radio also revealed yesterday it has just received an undisclosed amount of funding from Samsung Next. The startup had previously attracted $3m in seed capital from Byron Asset Management, Morning Crest Capital and two unnamed family offices in January 2016.