Samsung's Open Innovation Center seeks startup juice
The company is launching its Open Innovation Center in Silicon Valley with an aim to bring better software to its devices via startups.
Samsung yesterday announced the launch of a new Open Innovation Center in Silicon Valley with an aim of connecting the conglomerate with the latest and greatest software ideas.
David Eun, Samsung Electronics executive vice president and leader of the Open Innovation Center, announced its opening yesterday at the D: Dive Into Media event. He told All Things Digital's Kara Swisher that while the company's hardware efforts are going well, the Open Innovation Center is designed to deliver a "thoughtful integration" of hardware with software.
According to Eun, the Open Innovation Center is based on four ideas:
- Samsung has created an "accelerator" division that help small startups get their products off the ground while learning about the ways they can leverage Samsung's products and plans.
- A venture-capital arm will give Eun and his team the ability to invest in early-stage startups that are trying to deliver the "next big things" in tech.
- The company's mergers and acquisitions team will, as the name suggests, acquire companies that could help Samsung's business.
- Finally, the Open Innovation Center will include a partnerships sector that allows Samsung to find ways to work alongside startups.
For now, Samsung's Open Innovation Center is operating in temporary locations. In June, the company plans to open permanent locations in Palo Alto and in the Chelsea neighborhood in New York City.
Correction at 7:15 a.m. PT to state that the "accelerator" division will focus on ways startups can leverage Samsung products.