Samsung Catalyst Fund Explained

Samsung Catalyst Fund
Type:Corporate venture capital
Founded:2013
Location:San Jose, California, United States

The Samsung Catalyst Fund (SCF) is the evergreen venture capital fund of Samsung Electronics. The fund invests in deep technology, artificial intelligence and big data startups. The fund's headquarters are located in San Jose, California, with offices in Seoul, Tel Aviv, and Paris.[1] [2]

History

In February 2013, Samsung Electronics launched a new fully-owned investment fund, called the Samsung Catalyst Fund, or SCF.[3] [4] The announcement was made at an event in Menlo Park. The fund is distinct from Samsung's other investment arms, Samsung Ventures investments and Samsung NEXT.

Approach

The fund has a multi-stage investment strategy and seeks to invest in startups in the data center, cloud computing, edge computing, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 5G, automotive technology, robotics and digital health spaces. Startups in the fund's portfolio are selected both for value creation and their potential creative impact on Samsung.[5] The fund additionally looks for startups that provide support to Samsung's components business and semiconductor units, as well as a focus on cloud infrastructure and internet of things.[6]

Alongside capital, the fund provides shared resources, networking, corporate development, and mentorship for its portfolio companies.

Portfolio investments

As of May 2021, the fund has made more than 60 investments, including AIMotive, SambaNova, Fungible, Graphcore, SoundHound Inc, Rescale, and Valens Semiconductor.[7] [8] The fund has seen multiple exits, including Argus Cyber Security, which was acquired by Continental AG in November 2017;[9] Babblelabs, which was acquired by Cisco;[10] Datrium, which was acquired by VMWare;[11] Habana Labs which was acquired by Intel;[12] Mapillary, which was acquired by Facebook;[13] Preventice Solutions, which was acquired by Boston Scientific;[14] Pixeom, which was acquired by Siemens;[15] and Ring, which was acquired by Amazon.[16]

The fund has also had portfolio companies go public, including Innoviz Technologies, which began trading on the Nasdaq exchange (under the ticker symbols INVZ and INVZW) on April 6, 2021, and raised $371 million in its market debut, and IonQ which went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “IONQ” on March 8, 2021, and raised $650M.[17] [18] On May 25, 2021, Valens[19]  announced going public on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “VLN” and plan for raising $240M.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Samsung Catalyst Fund Investor Profile: Portfolio & Exits PitchBook. 2021-05-28. pitchbook.com. en.
  2. Web site: Takashi. Dean. 2013-02-04. Samsung to devote $1.1B to investments in the U.S.. 2021-05-28. VentureBeat. en-US.
  3. Web site: Tibken. Shara. Samsung launches new $100M fund for cloud, mobile. 2021-05-28. CNET. en.
  4. Web site: Lawler. Ryan. Samsung Launches Strategy And Innovation Center, Will Invest $1.1 Billion On Innovation Through Two Funds. 2021-05-28. TechCrunch. en-US.
  5. Web site: Santo. Brian. 2020-12-23. VC Insanity? Interview with Samsung Catalyst SVP Shankar Chandran. 2021-05-28. EE Times Asia. en.
  6. Web site: Dignan. Larry. How Samsung's VC arm is thinking about data centers, Arm and quantum computing. 2021-05-28. ZDNet. en.
  7. Web site: Edwards. David. 2018-01-16. AImotive raises $38 million funding for its autonomous driving technology. 2021-05-28. Robotics & Automation News. en-US.
  8. Web site: Heles. Thierry. 2019-07-01. Fungible finds SoftBank for $200m series C. 2021-05-28. Corporate Venturing: News, Data, and Events - Global Corporate Venturing. en-US.
  9. News: 2017-11-03. Germany's Continental buys Israeli auto cyber firm Argus. en. Reuters. 2021-05-28.
  10. Web site: Narcisi. Gina. 2021-05-12. Cisco Will Buy Socio Labs To Enhance Webex Events. 2021-05-28. CRN.
  11. Web site: Whearley. Mike. 2020-07-01. VMware swoops in to buy disaster recovery firm Datrium. 2021-05-28. SiliconANGLE. en-US.
  12. Web site: Reuters. 2021-05-02. Intel to invest $600 million to expand chip, Mobileye R&D in Israel. 2021-05-28. CTECH - www.calcalistech.com.
  13. Web site: O'Hear. Steve. Mapillary, the crowdsourced database of street-level imagery, has been acquired by Facebook. 2023-09-03. TechCrunch. en-US.
  14. Web site: Whooley. Sean. 2021-03-02. Boston Scientific completes Preventice buy, divests BTG Pharmaceutical business. 2021-05-28. MassDevice. en-US.
  15. Web site: Martin. Dylan. 2019-10-25. Siemens To Buy Container-Based Edge Platform From Pixeom. 2021-05-28. CRN.
  16. Web site: Berger. Ali. Montag. Sarah. 2019-02-22. Amazon bought 'Shark Tank' reject Ring last year—here's what the founder says about Jeff Bezos. 2021-05-28. CNBC. en.
  17. Web site: Schubarth. Cromwell. Innoviz set to begin trading Tuesday as fifth lidar company to go public via SPAC merger. 2021-05-28. www.bizjournals.com.
  18. Web site: Fineman. Josh. SPAC DMY Technology III falls after confirming deal with IonQ. 2021-05-28. SeekingAlpha. 8 March 2021 . en.
  19. Web site: Valens Semiconductor, Market Leader in High-Speed Connectivity, to Become Public Company and List on NYSE. 2021-07-16. Valens. en-US.

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