Samsung Venture Investment one of world’s top 5 strategic investors

Published : Jul 7, 2016 - 13:39 Updated : Jul 7, 2016 - 17:31

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Venture Investment is one of this year’s top five strategic investors funding start-ups in terms of investment volume, the company said on July 7.

“We are in the top bracket, and have been there for several years now,” said Kim Young-min, a spokesperson for the firm.

He added that the specific amount or recipients of the funding could not be revealed, other than those that have already been released to the media.

Samsung Electronics` headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The company has pledged to change its rigid top-down corporate culture and embrace start-up spirit. / Samsung Electronics

Samsung Venture Investment‘s main function is to invest in start-ups with growth potential via corporate venture capital programs.

As a Samsung affiliate, Samsung Venture Investment is funded by six subsidiaries including Samsung Electronics, which hold roughly a combined 16 percent stake in it. Lee Sun-jong, who was formerly an executive at Samsung’s electronics arm, heads the investment firm.

Its primary source of funding is Samsung, with the group doling out the bulk of it. But Kim added that external investors also take part in the process, declining to name the sources.

As with any CVC program, Samsung Venture Investment’s main goal is to promote young start-ups that have the potential for being mutually beneficial for the firm.

But what it doesn’t do is access the start-ups’ original technology, or profit from it, according to Kim.

“It’s more about being beneficial for both sides, so our strategy is mainly focused on helping to develop that core technology so that it can be applied to Samsung products,” he said.

Mindful of the criticism that conglomerates are absorbing too many start-ups to become even more dominant in corporate Korea, most such strategic investors keep their stake at a minimum 10 percent.

These firms also tend to invest outside of Korea to avoid criticism on market dominance.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)