Samsung Ventures

Samsung Ventures, established in 1999, is a corporate venture capital arm of Samsung Electronics, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The firm invests globally in emerging technology companies, with a focus on semiconductors, mobile services, internet, software, security, enterprise solutions, bioengineering, and medical sectors. Its investment portfolio spans early-stage startups to pre-IPO companies, with an annual investment budget of $250 million and over $1.8 billion under management. Samsung Ventures operates from key innovation hubs worldwide, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, London, Tel Aviv, Bangalore, Tokyo, and Beijing, to identify and support pioneering startups in areas such as AI, robotics, augmented/virtual reality, and digital health.

Liam Ahn

Principal

Robert Ashcraft

Investment Director

Ju Won Cha

Managing Partner

Jaeseok Cha

Investment Director

Myungseok Choi

Investment Director

Jeongheon Gwak

Investment Director

Uiseok Hwang

Investment Director

TaeWoo Jeon

Investment Director

Jihong Kim

Managing Director, Samsung Ventures America

Han Seong Kim

Investment Director

Junyeong Kim

Investment Director

Jongwook Kim

Investment Director

Minjoo Kim

Investment Director

Donghyun Kim

Investment Director

Eunji Ko

Investment Director

KyungNam Ko

Investment Director

JaeHo Koh

Investment Director

Helena Lee

Investment Director

Stan Lee

Investment Director

Jaemin Lee

Investment Director

Hyemin Lee

Senior Investment Manager

SunMin Lee

Investment Director

Claire Leurent

Managing Director

Sooyoun Lim

Investment Director

Michael Pachos

Managing Director and Head of Samsung Ventures America, East Coast

Wookyoung Park

Investment Director

Jinho Park

Investment Director

Junho Yang

Investment Director

Chanwoo Yang

Investment Director

Il Seok Yoon

Chief Investment Officer

Jisu Yoon

Investment Director

Sung Eun Sarah Kim

Investment Director

Past deals in Storage Services

Volumez

Series A in 2024
Volumez is a provider of Data Infrastructure as a Service (DIaaS), offering a platform that integrates and orchestrates cloud resources to create customized data infrastructures suited to specific workload requirements. The platform is designed for data-intensive applications, ensuring performance, resilience, scalability, and cost efficiency across any cloud environment. With its innovative architecture and controller-less design, Volumez simplifies the deployment of storage solutions and dynamically adjusts to the evolving needs of businesses. This results in a predictable and composable DIaaS that delivers high performance and ultra-low latency while maintaining enterprise-grade data resilience at optimized costs. The company’s services are accessible through major cloud marketplaces, including AWS, Azure, and Oracle Cloud, facilitating easier management of both public and private cloud resources.

Arcfra

Funding Round in 2024
Arcfra is a technology company that specializes in simplifying on-premises enterprise cloud infrastructure. It offers a full-stack, software-defined platform that enables businesses to build robust, future-proof infrastructure from bare metal. The platform provides a range of services, including computing, storage, networking, security, backup, disaster recovery, and Kubernetes support, all within a single stack. It supports both virtual machines and containers, ensuring flexibility and adaptability for enterprises in the cloud and AI era.

SmartX

Series B in 2020
SmartX is a prominent provider of hyperconverged infrastructure and software-defined storage solutions. The company offers a fully software-driven platform that is designed to be scalable across all x86 appliances, catering to a diverse clientele that includes major cloud builders, telecommunications companies, and IoT firms in China. SmartX focuses on delivering infrastructure that is distributed, highly reliable, and infinitely scalable, allowing organizations to seamlessly transition from traditional hardware-defined systems to modern enterprise cloud environments. This innovative approach enables enterprises to efficiently manage their IT applications while adapting quickly to evolving technological demands.

Iguazio

Venture Round in 2019
Iguazio is a data science platform that empowers enterprises to develop, deploy, and manage artificial intelligence applications at scale. The platform facilitates real-time operation of AI models and supports deployment across various environments, including multi-cloud, on-premises, and edge. By analyzing diverse data sources, Iguazio transforms AI projects into actionable insights and tangible business outcomes. Its capabilities accelerate the transition of AI solutions from development to production, enabling continuous management and rollout of AI services. This approach significantly reduces the time needed to harness the potential of AI, allowing organizations to implement automated machine learning pipelines and achieve their data-driven strategies more effectively.

Datera

Series C in 2018
Datera is a developer of a data management platform aimed at simplifying enterprise data storage. The company's innovative platform utilizes intelligent placement technology and applies machine learning to automate data orchestration and management. This enables organizations to efficiently handle data capacity and performance based on specific application requirements. Founded by experts in the Linux I/O storage stack, Datera partners with leading server-based infrastructure companies such as HPE, Intel, and Cisco, delivering solutions that achieve a total cost of ownership and operation that is significantly lower than traditional methods.

CNEX Labs

Series D in 2018
CNEX Labs, Inc. specializes in the development of storage semiconductor and software solutions, primarily focusing on NVMe PCIe SSD controller ASICs. These controllers support LightNVM/Open-Channel operations, offering high performance, low and predictable latency, and scalability tailored for software-defined storage environments. By partnering with solid-state storage manufacturers and data center customers, CNEX creates innovative solutions that enhance big data computing and analytics capabilities in cloud, hyperscale, and enterprise data centers. The company's products are designed to provide flexibility and efficiency across various form factors, including M.2, U.2, U.3, HHHL, and EDSFF. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Jose, California, CNEX Labs also has offices in Copenhagen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Tokyo.

Kazan Networks

Series A in 2016
Kazan Networks Corporation is a developer of computer hardware focused on enterprise storage and networking solutions. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Auburn, California, the company specializes in products such as iSCSI controllers, FC-to-SATA bridges, SAS controllers, and high-performance networking solutions. Kazan Networks offers a Customer Evaluation Kit that allows customers and partners to test the emerging NVMe over Fabrics standard. This fully functioning implementation is designed using FPGA technology to provide an optimal blend of performance and flexibility, facilitating easy plug-and-play connectivity between hosts and SSDs over Ethernet links. As of September 2019, Kazan Networks operates as a subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation.

Datera

Series B in 2015
Datera is a developer of a data management platform aimed at simplifying enterprise data storage. The company's innovative platform utilizes intelligent placement technology and applies machine learning to automate data orchestration and management. This enables organizations to efficiently handle data capacity and performance based on specific application requirements. Founded by experts in the Linux I/O storage stack, Datera partners with leading server-based infrastructure companies such as HPE, Intel, and Cisco, delivering solutions that achieve a total cost of ownership and operation that is significantly lower than traditional methods.

Pivot3

Series E in 2014
Pivot3, based in Palo Alto, is an IT company focused on simplifying data center operations by unifying storage, compute, and network resources into streamlined solutions. Founded with the goal of reducing cost, risk, and complexity, Pivot3 has developed technologies that have enabled thousands of enterprises globally to achieve their IT and business objectives. The company offers Dynamic Hyperconverged Infrastructure and PCIe Flash Arrays, which enhance resource utilization and ensure high availability for mission-critical applications. Pivot3's solutions deliver significant business benefits, including lower total cost of ownership, uninterrupted revenue generation, and improved customer satisfaction. With a diverse product portfolio optimized for various applications such as server virtualization, data center consolidation, and disaster recovery, Pivot3 has successfully deployed over 16,000 systems in 53 countries, serving a wide range of industries including energy, aerospace, logistics, and retail.

CNEX Labs

Series A in 2014
CNEX Labs, Inc. specializes in the development of storage semiconductor and software solutions, primarily focusing on NVMe PCIe SSD controller ASICs. These controllers support LightNVM/Open-Channel operations, offering high performance, low and predictable latency, and scalability tailored for software-defined storage environments. By partnering with solid-state storage manufacturers and data center customers, CNEX creates innovative solutions that enhance big data computing and analytics capabilities in cloud, hyperscale, and enterprise data centers. The company's products are designed to provide flexibility and efficiency across various form factors, including M.2, U.2, U.3, HHHL, and EDSFF. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Jose, California, CNEX Labs also has offices in Copenhagen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Tokyo.

Giraffic

Series A in 2013
Giraffic, Inc. specializes in video-on-demand streaming acceleration technology, designed to enhance the delivery of high-definition content for online media providers. Established in 2008 and headquartered in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Giraffic's technology facilitates simultaneous data retrieval from multiple sources, effectively eliminating re-buffering pauses during video playback. This capability allows media companies, content distributors, and social networks to provide seamless access to HD videos and images, as well as support for games and software downloads. The company gained recognition for its Adaptive Video Acceleration (AVA) technology, which significantly improved streaming performance and was adopted by industry leaders like Samsung and Roku. Following the sale of its AVA technology, Giraffic shifted focus to the Data Cloud Storage sector with its Distributed Adaptive Storage (DASS) platform, offering innovative solutions for distributed and hybrid cloud environments, including a consumer backup application that emphasizes virtually unlimited storage capacity.

Pure Storage

Series E in 2013
Pure Storage is a U.S.-based company that specializes in enterprise data storage solutions, designed specifically to leverage the advantages of flash memory. The company offers a platform that significantly enhances performance while simplifying storage management and reducing associated costs. Its product lineup includes integrated storage hardware and operating system software, alongside various subscription services. These subscription services encompass Evergreen Storage, Pure as-a-Service, Cloud Block Store, and Portworx, as well as professional services for installation and consulting. By enabling organizations to efficiently manage data growth within existing power and space limitations, Pure Storage is transforming business operations across sectors, particularly benefiting applications that require high random I/O performance, such as server and desktop virtualization, databases, and cloud computing.

Datera

Series A in 2013
Datera is a developer of a data management platform aimed at simplifying enterprise data storage. The company's innovative platform utilizes intelligent placement technology and applies machine learning to automate data orchestration and management. This enables organizations to efficiently handle data capacity and performance based on specific application requirements. Founded by experts in the Linux I/O storage stack, Datera partners with leading server-based infrastructure companies such as HPE, Intel, and Cisco, delivering solutions that achieve a total cost of ownership and operation that is significantly lower than traditional methods.

SolidFire

Series C in 2013
SolidFire, LLC is a company that specializes in providing primary all-flash storage systems specifically designed for cloud service providers. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, SolidFire offers a scale-out storage platform that delivers high performance for diverse application workloads, including cloud orchestration, database management, and virtual desktop infrastructure. Its innovative architecture allows for multi-tenant cloud services, enabling service providers to ensure consistent performance across thousands of applications within a shared infrastructure. SolidFire's solutions are characterized by patented efficiency technologies that significantly reduce power, cooling, and capacity consumption, making it an attractive option for next-generation data centers. The company also maintains a global presence with additional locations in Australia, Japan, Korea, and Singapore. As of 2016, SolidFire operates as a subsidiary of NetApp, Inc.

Bitcasa

Series A in 2012
Bitcasa is a developer of a cloud-based storage service that simplifies file storage, access, and sharing for users and businesses. The company's platform allows for secure uploading and syncing of documents, photos, and other content across multiple devices, including those running on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac OSX, and the web. With its Cloud Storage Platform APIs and branded applications, Bitcasa provides plug-and-play solutions that cater to a diverse range of developers, OEMs, and service providers in over 140 countries. The company's technology is designed to enhance the management of data, enabling users to creatively utilize their file systems and storage capabilities.

Astute Networks

Series B in 2012
Astute Networks, Inc. is a manufacturer of network-based virtualization appliances, specializing in performance storage solutions for physical, virtual, and cloud computing environments. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in San Diego, California, the company develops the VMware Ready Certified ViSX G3, which accelerates server and desktop virtualization as well as cloud computing infrastructures. Astute's offerings include solutions for Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint virtualization, along with support for Oracle, SAP, and SQL databases. The company’s patented DataPump Engine is designed to deliver high-performance iSCSI IOPS, ensuring sustained random I/O performance and effectively eliminating bottlenecks that can hinder virtual machine performance and user productivity. Astute Networks also maintains a strategic partnership with Veeam Software to enhance its service offerings.

Pivot3

Venture Round in 2012
Pivot3, based in Palo Alto, is an IT company focused on simplifying data center operations by unifying storage, compute, and network resources into streamlined solutions. Founded with the goal of reducing cost, risk, and complexity, Pivot3 has developed technologies that have enabled thousands of enterprises globally to achieve their IT and business objectives. The company offers Dynamic Hyperconverged Infrastructure and PCIe Flash Arrays, which enhance resource utilization and ensure high availability for mission-critical applications. Pivot3's solutions deliver significant business benefits, including lower total cost of ownership, uninterrupted revenue generation, and improved customer satisfaction. With a diverse product portfolio optimized for various applications such as server virtualization, data center consolidation, and disaster recovery, Pivot3 has successfully deployed over 16,000 systems in 53 countries, serving a wide range of industries including energy, aerospace, logistics, and retail.

Pure Storage

Series C in 2011
Pure Storage is a U.S.-based company that specializes in enterprise data storage solutions, designed specifically to leverage the advantages of flash memory. The company offers a platform that significantly enhances performance while simplifying storage management and reducing associated costs. Its product lineup includes integrated storage hardware and operating system software, alongside various subscription services. These subscription services encompass Evergreen Storage, Pure as-a-Service, Cloud Block Store, and Portworx, as well as professional services for installation and consulting. By enabling organizations to efficiently manage data growth within existing power and space limitations, Pure Storage is transforming business operations across sectors, particularly benefiting applications that require high random I/O performance, such as server and desktop virtualization, databases, and cloud computing.

SiliconSystems

Series C in 2006
SiliconSystems is the world leader in industrial-grade solid-state storage solutions engineered exclusively for the high performance, high reliability, multi-year product lifecycle requirements of the Enterprise System OEM market. The company's patented and patent-pending SiliconDrive(TM) technology meets the rigorous demands of applications in the netcom, military, industrial, interactive kiosk and medical markets. SiliconSystems is based in Aliso Viejo, California.
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