Looking at AI, VR, IoT tech firms
Samsung NEXT, Samsung’s global investment arm, has announced the start of early stage startup investment in Europe. The announcement marks the start of the investment arm's expansion plans in Europe beginning with its new Berlin headquarters, adding to sites in South Korea, San Francisco, New York and Tel Aviv. NEXT plans to open additional locations “throughout Europe” within the next year, said Samsung. Recently appointed managing director of Samsung NEXT Europe, Felix Petersen, will lead the European investment and M&A efforts.
The investment arm will target early stage startups with a focus on fast scaling “frontier tech”, such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented reality and virtual reality.
Since its inception in 2013, Samsung NEXT has invested in more than 60 companies and has made 15 acquisitions including mobile payment solution LoopPay, cloud computing service provider Joyent, artificial intelligence platform Viv and IoT platform SmartThings. The latest $150m in global funding allocated to NEXT was announced by Samsung this January.
Petersen said: “We’re investing in and acquiring companies in areas like AR, VR and AI to build the products and interfaces that will further transform how we’re all connecting with the world. The combination of deep tech talent and cultural diversity makes Europe a very attractive market.”