Samsung Announced $150 Million NEXT Fund!
Good news! Now entrepreneurs can follow their business plans with a support of hefty hard cash.
Samsung has announced $150 million in its project NEXT for early-stage European startups. It’ll help entrepreneurs that are full of great ideas, but like anything in life, they require a support to establish the business.
Samsung Next was previously known as the Samsung Global Innovation Center since its inception in 2013. Over the last four years, Samsung has invested in around 60 startups, out of which 12 couldn’t make it, and 15 out of 60 made achievements. As for today, Samsung NEXT project is fully focused to support businesses, which deal in AR VR.
Challenges faced by start-ups
Undoubtedly, high-tech new businesses often face funding challenges, especially in the critical period between receiving seed funding and maturity when company attracts venture capital. This new project NEXT will bridge that funding gap, giving high-tech start-ups a needful as well as an incentive to stay and grow in Europe.
The sole purpose of the project Next is to invest in startups working in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Internet of Things (IoT). For that purpose, Samsung has set up its foundation in Europe, to open up additional offices within the next year.
“We’re investing in technology companies that are operating in areas like AR, VR, and AI to design the products and interfaces that will be next level in the future,” explained Felix Petersen, Samsung Next Europe. “The blend of deep talent and cultural diversity makes the Europe segment very attractive. It provides us a great opportunity to become the platform for entrepreneurs, residing in Europe, looking to build and grow their businesses and transform them into revolutionary companies.”
As for today, the region’s venture capital association announced that European venture capital firms raised $7.3 billion in 2016. An emerging market segment in Europe is one of the reasons reason why VC funding could be on the up, however, another potential reason is that it’s easier to reap better returns inside Europe, than in places such as Silicon Valley, where startup valuations can be overinflated.
In short, Europe is looking like a good platform for investors seeking good returns.
However, Samsung Next aid for small businesses and startups has never been enough. Having said that, every single funder, be it President Obama or the stars of NBC’s Shark Tank, acknowledges that startups and small business are the pillars of our nation’s economy. Samsung’s idea behind the project has more of the same reasons, to fund the small businesses that will help strengthen the economy by creating jobs while building high-tech AR VR products.
Simply put, for an entrepreneur starting out, it’ll be hard to choose between the many available funding options, determining which are most lucrative. In addition, it would be an ideal situation, to line a roomful of investors out and let them fight for funding your business, however, that is merely a dream. Still, entrepreneurs have a wide room full of investors who are ready to leverage resources just to turn their ideas into newly born businesses.
