Samsung Next's US investor team will take over the relationship with partners and portfolio companies previously handled out of Israel.
Photo of Samsung Next’s Tel Aviv office courtesy of Times of Israel
Samsung Next, a corporate venture arm of South Korea-based conglomerate Samsung, is shutting down its office in Israel.
Eyal Miller, the vice president and managing director of Samsung Next, communicated the plans to close the unit in an email seen by the Calcalist publication last month, and the closure was confirmed to GCV by a company spokesperson.
“The result of the consolidation of operations is that the Samsung Next team in Israel will part company, and the office will shut down,’ the spokesperson told GCV.
Samsung Next’s US investor team will take over the relationship with partners and portfolio companies previously handled out of Israel.
“Our top priority in this time of change is to collaborate closely with partners and portfolio companies to smoothly transition the work and relationships to the US team, and to address the essential operational requirements of winding down an office,” Samsung Next told GCV.
The departure comes due to the ongoing war in Gaza and amid calls for an embargo on Israel over human rights concerns in Gaza, which have led to a decline in confidence in the Israeli economy. Ratings agency S&P Global cut Israel’s long-term ratings and Israel’s GDP fell 5.7% in the last quarter of 2023.
Miller said Israel remained “an attractive market” for Samsung Next.
Samsung Next, founded in 2013, is headquartered in California but has offices in South Korea and recently in Israel.
The unit has invested in over 70 early-stage startups in the Israeli ecosystem that are developing innovations in AI, financial technology and healthcare technology. Notable Israeli-based startup investments include 5G mobile network operator Cellwize Wireless Technologies which raised $32m in a series B round in 2020.
