South Korea-listed conglomerate Samsung has shaken up its two US-based corporate venturing units with Young Sohn retiring and Sean Kae coming in as acting head of Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center (SSIC) and David Lee joining as head of Samsung Next.
Sohn has retired as president and chief strategy officer (CSO) of Samsung Electronics but will continue as chairman of Harman, the autonomous driving subsidiary acquired by the company for $8bn, as well as strategic adviser to its largest division, Samsung Electronics, and chairman of the GCV Leadership Society’s advisory board.
Kae, now executive vice-president of strategy and corporate development, joined SSIC in 2019 to help Sohn as CSO “define and expand the organisation’s mission and focus areas for new innovation and investment”.
Kae added on his company profile page: “I am responsible for identifying and investing in Samsung’s future growth engines and the creation of new businesses to sustain the Samsung Group’s growth trajectory for the next decade.”
SSIC runs corporate venturing unit Samsung Catalyst under managing directors Francis Ho and Shankar Chandran, reporting to the company’s device solutions division.
Samsung Next focuses more on the consumer electronics and mobile business side, and so has looked for startups with transformative software and services.
Next runs a separate investment unit in Los Angeles, California, and hired venture capitalist Lee following the departure of Gus Warren in 2020 to set up Bindle Systems, the developer of a covid-19 health status tool.
Lee had co-founded venture capital firm Refactor Capital in 2016 with former Andreessen Horowitz investor Zal Bilimoria, who is now looking to raise $50m for Refactor’s third fund, according to a regulatory filing. Lee had previously been a managing partner at Ron Conway’s VC firm, SV Angel.
In a third major move, Luc Julia, Samsung’s chief technology officer and senior vice-president of innovation, is reportedly leaving and his team being disbanded, according to Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Photo: Young Sohn speaking at the GCVI Summit, January 2020.
