Investor Profile: Samsung Next — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Samsung Next funding comes from Samsung Electronics' global innovation and corporate venture group — investing since 2013 across 4 global offices and 350+ portfolio companies. Its pitch to founders is distinctive: the expertise of a world-class venture firm plus, in their words, 'a direct call option into one of the world's largest technology companies'. With flexible cheques from $50K to $25M across all stages and deliberately no investment committee, it is one of the fastest-moving corporate investors in the world.

Samsung Next funding: thesis and focus areas

The current thesis, published on samsungnext.com, is that the next decade will be built at the intersection of AI, robotics, synthetic biology and advanced hardware — 'physics is relevant again', and Samsung's supply chain and distribution are the unfair advantage. The fund invests across six domains: 01 AI — foundation models, edge deployment, enterprise implementation (Perplexity, Liquid AI, Black Forest Labs); 02 Robotics — full-stack autonomy, sensing, human-machine interfaces (1X, Field AI, Apptronik); 03 Digital Health & MedTech — bio-electronics, diagnostics, wearables (Maven Clinic, Function Health, Signos); 04 Services — stablecoin, blockchain, mediatech (Bastion, LayerZero, Volley); 05 Frontier — novel compute, materials, energy (Rain, Base Power, Harmonic).

Fund size and cheque sizes

Samsung Next does not publicly disclose an aggregate fund size. It does disclose cheque discipline: $50K to $25MM, tailored to team and stage, from pre-seed through growth. The group explicitly positions itself as a minority, non-lead investor — 'a strategic resource on your cap table, not your captain' — and follows on commercially when there is a clear win-win with Samsung. Third-party data (PitchBook) counts 545 investments and 138 exits; the official site leads with the 350+ company portfolio figure.

Notable portfolio

Headline names on the official portfolio page: Perplexity, Liquid AI, Black Forest Labs, 1X, Apptronik, Maven Clinic, Function Health, LayerZero, Magic Eden, Lightmatter, Tavus, Eight Sleep, Space and Time, Sahara AI, Skild AI, Unsloth, CAST AI, Datology AI and Hims & Hers. A celebrated exit: MosaicML, acquired by Databricks.

Team and leads

Samsung Next presents itself as a global partnership with 4 offices (Mountain View, Israel, Korea and others per third-party profiles) and does not publish a partner roster with named deal leads on its public site. Founders are invited to engage the team directly.

Programmes, credits and product tie-ins

There is no traditional accelerator — the value-add is commercial: direct access into Samsung Electronics' product, supply-chain and distribution machinery, fast decisive processes with no investment committee, and commercially-driven follow-on funding. The site's founder-facing stance is explicit: 'ALWAYS OPEN TO FOUNDERS' and 'NOW TAKING MEETINGS'.

How to apply for funding from Samsung Next

The official site carries no application form but positions the team as always open to founders and now taking meetings — the intended route is a direct pitch via samsungnext.com or a warm introduction through the venture ecosystem. Come with a clear answer to their core question: where does Samsung's hardware, supply chain or distribution become your unfair advantage? That is the filter behind every cheque.