Felix Petersen, Director of Samsung NEXT Europe start-up incubator, presented the support provided by Samsung as a large company to new businesses and entrepreneurs, Samsung NEXT Europe is located in Berlin, as one of 6 offices in the world.
The presentation was held within the within the seminar SEE MIKTA: Innovation and Entrepreneurship, organized on 23 November 2017 in Belgrade, by NALED and embassies of MIKTA countries - Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia.
2. ▪ Early stage investments
▪ Mobile, Consumer, Social, SaaS,
Marketplaces
▪ Angel Investments in Soundcloud,
Dataminr, Portfolio Exits to Dropbox,
Tumblr
▪ Faber Ventures Pan-European Early
Stage Fund
▪ 2x entrepreneur
▪ Plazes exited to Nokia (2008)
▪ Amen exited to Tape.tv (2013)
▪ Mentor
ABOUT ME
3. We partner with innovators to
OUR MISSION
buildideas into products
growproducts into businesses &
scalebusinesses that leverage and
transform the Samsung ecosystem.
4. We collaborate with
seasoned founders and
talented teams to build
products aimed at
transforming and
revolutionize the way we
work and live. Our local
workspaces, deep domain
experts and operational
support empower startups
with the tools and services
needed to go further and
achieve their goals faster.
Product
Development
Business
Development
and
M&A
We develop mutually
beneficial partnerships and
acquire game-changing
companies that can leverage
Samsung’s global reach and
resources to bring their
products and services to
consumers worldwide.
Investments
We invest in early and late
stage startups focused on
frontier tech with high
potential for scale and
outsized financial returns.
While a majority of
investments range from
Seed to Series B, we are
open to investing in later
rounds.
OUR EXPERTISE
5. SAN FRANCISCO
TEL AVIV
KOREA
NEW YORK
SILICON VALLEY
We think global and act local.
Berlin - Korea - New York – San Francisco – Silicon Valley – Tel Aviv
Samsung NEXT Berlin (BR)
Samsung NEXT Korea (KR)
Samsung NEXT New York (NY)
Samsung NEXT San Francisco (SF)
Samsung NEXT Silicon Valley (SV)
Samsung NEXT Tel Aviv (TLV)
BERLIN
6. After a successful Kickstarter
campaign, the SmartThings team
led the early days of consumer IoT
adoption. Working to enhance
how everyday objects interact and
connect, SmartThings sought to
showcase IoT on a global scale.
Within months in working with us,
SmartThings was featured on
stage alongside Samsung at IFA
and CES, positioned to lead the
next stage of IoT adoption.
Acquired in 2014.
Building a Connected Smart Home
7. Successful serial entrepreneurs
Will Graylin and George Wallner
set to innovate the mobile payment
experience with a promising
magnetic strip technology, but the
user experience was not seamless
and the product could not scale on
its own. In less than a year,
Samsung Pay was released,
placing the LoopPay solution in the
hands of hundreds of millions of
Samsung smartphone users.
Acquired in 2015.
Empowering Mobile Payments
8. Co-founders Mara Segal and
James Flynn envisioned a better
way for families to stay connected
beyond whiteboards and sticky
notes on the kitchen wall. At the
Samsung Accelerator, they co-
developed StickiBoard - a cloud-
connected dashboard that helps
busy families stay in-sync across
devices. We helped to bring Mara
and James’ vision to everyday
homes through Samsung’s Family
Hub Refrigerator, now available in
U.S. retail stores nationwide.
Acquired in 2016.
Keeping On-The-Go Families in Sync
10. Funding Landscape in Europe
▪ Very fragmented and in different stages
▪ Most countries are startup friendly now
▪ Seed: Mostly available
▪ Series A Crunch in 2nd Tier, Series B crunch in Tier 1
▪ Big US investors tracking London and Berlin
▪ M&A (especially acquihires) still a challenge
▪ It can be done from Europe
14. What kind of startup are you
building?
▪ Big shift to deep tech
▪ Social is dead, low hanging fruits have been picked, Amazon,
Facebook & Google dominate
▪ Deep Tech: 3-6 years of R&D
▪ “Analogue” industries are messy and capital intensive
▪ Understand what you are building and what is right for you
15. Being a European Entrepreneur in
2017
▪ Where are you quickest to get to Product?
▪ Product, Product, Product
▪ A relationship is a graph not a point
▪ No, you’re not fundraising
▪ M&A (especially acquihires) still a challenge
16. What can governments do to
support?
▪ Startup initiatives are nice
▪ E-Government initiatives are nice
▪ Fund-matching is nice
▪ Keeping rents low is crucial
▪ Making it a cool place to live is even more crucial