Our teams
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Ventures
Ajay Singh
Director, Ventures
Ajay Singh
Director, Ventures
Ajay Singh is a Director at Samsung NEXT Ventures. Based in Silicon Valley, Ajay focuses on early stage investments in software and services, particularly in artificial intelligence and emerging tech areas such as augmented reality and virtual reality. Ajay has over 12 years of investment and operational experience with venture firms, startups and small and large companies. Ajay graduated with BS in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, JD from Northwestern University School of Law and MBA from Kellogg School of Management.
Alex Hong
Coordinator, People Ops
Alex Hong
Coordinator, People Ops
Alicia Garabedian
Associate, Ventures
Alicia Garabedian
Associate, Ventures
Alicia is an Investment Associate at Samsung NEXT Ventures. The team invests in early-stage transformative software and services startups that have the potential to scale and deliver out-sized financial returns by leveraging the Samsung ecosystem. She is currently focused on sourcing opportunities in AR and Blockchain, as well as working on the launch of the NEXT International Platform to help startups access Samsung’s offering.
Alicia initially joined Samsung in 2017 as Venture Operations Manager where she built the operational framework for the Ventures team. Prior to Samsung NEXT, Alicia was an Investment Associate at Hive Ventures, where she sourced, evaluated, and executed investments in SaaS, IoT, and Robotics. Prior to Hive, Alicia was an Institutional Consultant at Morgan Stanley, where she led the integration of socially responsible investing to re-engineer client portfolios, mobilizing capital to effect positive global change. Alicia has global experience working in London and Paris and also worked at Merrill Lynch and UBS. Alicia graduated Magna Cum Laude from DePaul University in Finance and International Business.
Amit Garg
Principal, Ventures
Amit Garg
Principal, Ventures
Amit Garg is a Principal at Samsung NEXT Ventures. Based in Silicon Valley, Amit focuses on mobility, digital health and consumer IoT. Some of his key investments include UniKey (smart locks), nuTonomy (self-driving cars), BioBeats (machine learning for human well-being) and Glooko (platform for diabetes management). Previously, Amit spent 10 years in Silicon Valley running his own startup, as a VC at Norwest Ventures, and at Google managing product and analytics. He holds a BS in computer science and MS in biomedical informatics from Stanford University and a MBA from Harvard University. Amit is a native speaker of three languages and a 70.3 Ironman finisher. He lives a carbon-neutral life and has built a hospital in rural India serving 100,000 people.
Andy Chang
Head of Product Marketing
Andy Chang
Head of Product Marketing
Andy comes to Samsung NEXT with 10+ years of marketing experiences that traverse startups to established Silicon Valley organizations that include eBay, Yahoo, and Atlassian’s HipChat and Confluence products. He was selected to a marketing leadership program at eBay and has been responsible for leading App Store Optimization for Yahoo’s consumer mobile products, as well as being one of the first Growth Marketers for Atlassian - leading initiatives across product activation, user engagement, and cross-sell. His experiences have spanned B2C and B2B industries, and across both desktop and mobile platforms. While these can be very different in approach, he emphasizes the importance of placing the customer at the focal point. Lastly, his marketing journey has shaped his understanding of how and when to leverage a breadth of marketing channels and strategies to achieve business objectives and goals.
Bhavna Kumar
Strategy and Operation Manager
Bhavna Kumar
Strategy and Operation Manager
Bhavna enables Samsung NEXT to enter burgeoning startup ecosystems around the world by evaluating markets' fit with NEXT, designing our go to market strategy, sourcing investment opportunities, creating strategic alliances with VCs, universities, and governments, and operationalizing new offices. Given NEXT’s global ambition (already with offices in Silicon Valley, New York, Tel Aviv, Suwon, and Berlin), Bhavna is also working to unlock strategic value for our portfolio companies, through the interconnectedness of our global locations. Bhavna is specifically passionate about startups taking advantage of their local 'moats' by creating locally relevant solutions with global scaling potential. She is also a champion for women in VC and corporate and believes it is her job to elevates women’s roles by providing active mentorship to women around the world.
Before joining Samsung NEXT, Bhavna worked at Citi Ventures where she helped launch Citi’s first corporate incubator and co-founded two homegrown startups by leveraging her expertise
in fintech, emerging markets, and customer development and observational research. Bhavna is an entrepreneur by nature and started her first business at age 15. She speaks three languages and has lived and worked in 6 cities around the world. Bhavna holds a BSc in economics from Purdue and an MBA from Georgetown.
Brendon Kim
VP, MD, Global Head of Ventures
Brendon Kim
VP, MD, Global Head of Ventures
Brendon Kim has been investing in early stage startup companies for over 20 years. He is currently the VP, MD, Global Head of Samsung NEXT Ventures. The Ventures team invests in compelling early stage software and services startups, bringing the power of the Samsung platform to accelerate their growth. Prior to joining Samsung, Brendon was a co-founding general partner of Altos Ventures where he was a lead investor and board member in numerous early-stage software and services companies. Before co-founding Altos Ventures, he was a strategy and management consultant in the media, consumer and technology industries. Brendon received his MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and his BA from Princeton University.
Carlos Cabrera
Samsung NEXT Silicon Valley
Carlos Cabrera
Samsung NEXT Silicon Valley
Carlos Cabrera is a member of the Samsung NEXT Strategy and M&A teams. Carlos drives strategy projects to foster innovation and to identify the “next big thing” for Samsung. He is also part of the M&A team where he is responsible for finding and acquiring innovative software and service startups and successfully integrating them into Samsung to maximize impact. Prior to joining Samsung, he worked as a Consultant at Capgemini in the Telecom and Media industry. Carlos holds a BEng and a MSc in Telecommunication Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and an MBA from the Wharton School
Christiana Ting
Manager, Partnerships
Christiana Ting
Manager, Partnerships
Christiana Ting is a Manager on the Samsung NEXT Partnerships team in New York. She is focused on developing strategic relationships and collaboration with large and small software and services companies. Prior to joining the Partnerships team, Christiana served as a Manager on the Samsung NEXT M&A team where she was responsible for sourcing and executing acquisitions and large investments. Christiana previously advised private equity and venture capital clients as a member of Evercore’s Private Funds Group. She began her career as an Investment Banking Analyst with Barclays' Industrials M&A team. Christiana earned a B.B.A. in Finance from Emory University.
Christina Bechhold Russ
Principal, Ventures
Based in London, Christina is a Principal for Samsung NEXT Ventures, focusing on early stage investments across software and services, particularly in Mobile SaaS, mobility, consumer and IoT. A passionate supporter of young entrepreneurs, Christina is active in both the London and New York VC scenes, with multiple transatlantic investments already under her belt.
Claudio Vespucci
Head of People Ops
Claudio Vespucci
Head of People Ops
Claudio Vespucci is currently the Head of People Ops for Samsung NEXT, a leading driver of Samsung’s transformation into an integrated hardware & software company. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of global HR for the organization, including Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, Succession Planning, Organizational Design, Diversity and Inclusion, Culture, and Learning & Development.
Prior to joining Samsung, Claudio was the Lead HR Business Partner for SAP Success Factors, where he acted as the trusted advisor and lead for the organization on all strategic people- and organization-related topics. Claudio joined SAP in 2006 and held a number of global HR business partner roles throughout his tenure at SAP, providing HR leadership for a variety of different SAP organizations, including Business User/Analytics, On-Demand, Global Marketing, the Mobile division, and the Platform Solution Group.
Prior to SAP, Claudio spent several years at Hewlett-Packard, where he held a number of functional HR roles at both the global and regional level, within the U.S. and in Europe.
He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from San Jose State University and an MBA from City University
Dan Winters
Operations Manager, International
Dan Winters
Operations Manager, International
Dan Winters is an Operations Magician at Samsung NEXT. Before coming to Samsung, Dan spent 5 years working at Willamette Week/MusicfestNW in Portland, OR and also spent time at Huge in Brooklyn, NY. Dan grew up in Cincinnati, OH and has a Bachelors of Arts from Miami University.
Dane Howard
Global Head of Design, Product
Dane Howard
Global Head of Design, Product
Dane leads Design & Product for the NEXT Product teams. From early-stage narratives to full end to end product experiences, Dane and his team design for our growing products and services worldwide.
Dane has over 20 years experience growing & leading teams for both start-ups and big companies. He co-founded a start-up which was acquired by eBay in 2008. He has played principle design and leadership roles for Microsoft, BMW, Major League Baseball, Scient, Quokka Sports, NBCOlympics, eBay, and Trov. He is named in over 20 patents for his collaborations and inventions.
He is also an author, often speaking on design & culture transformation.
Daniel Thalhammer
Senior Manager, Partnerships
Daniel Thalhammer
Senior Manager, Partnerships
David Eun
David Eun, President; Chief Innovation Officer, Samsung Electronics
David Eun
David Eun, President; Chief Innovation Officer, Samsung Electronics
David Eun has a dual role as President of Samsung NEXT and Chief Innovation Officer of Samsung Electronics. Samsung NEXT works with startups to identify and develop software and services that will complement Samsung’s leading hardware footprint through early-stage investments, product development, partnerships, and acquisitions capabilities. As Chief Innovation Officer, David is responsible for developing a long-term vision for Samsung Electronics and driving future growth opportunities for the company. Prior to joining Samsung, David served as President of AOL Media and Studios, and Global Head of Content Partnerships at Google after developing new digital businesses as a venture capitalist and executive at Time Warner and NBC Entertainment. David is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Prior to joining Samsung, David served as President of AOL Media and Studios and as Global Head of Content Partnerships at Google. Before Google, he worked at Time Warner and NBC Entertainment, where he had a variety of roles developing new digital businesses. David is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
David Park
Senior Professional, Samsung NEXT Korea
David Park
Senior Professional, Samsung NEXT Korea
David Park is a member of Samsung NEXT’s M&A team in South Korea. David is responsible for developing the initial concept and strategy of impactful acquisition proposals and pushing them through the entire M&A process, aligning tightly with key Samsung stakeholders, including C-level executives. Within Samsung NEXT, David has initiated projects spanning across Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Gaming and more. Prior to joining Samsung NEXT, David worked on partnerships, marketing, and product development within the Samsung Mobile business. Before that, he worked as a strategy consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and worked across different teams at General Electric spanning from manufacturing operations to cost management. David holds a B.S in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from Virginia Tech and an MBA from INSEAD.
Deborah Conway
Associate, Ventures
Deborah Conway
Associate, Ventures
Deborah is an Investment Associate at Samsung NEXT Ventures. She focuses on sourcing investments in urban tech, media, and identity. Before joining Samsung NEXT, Deborah worked in a BD and strategy role for a social media and mapping startup, Visor Inc., and for a real estate startup, StreetEasy (acquired by Zillow Group, 2013). Deborah is a graduate of Harvard University, where she served as a member of the Women’s Ice Hockey Varsity Team for four years.
Emily Becher
SVP, Samsung NEXT; Head of International
Emily Becher
SVP, Samsung NEXT; Head of International
Emily Becher is SVP, Samsung NEXT, and Head of International. Emily brings an extensive media and technology background, most recently serving as Co-Founder of mobile travel startup, Travlist. As SVP & GM at AOL, Emily led a dozen commerce and classified businesses. Prior to AOL, Emily worked at Yahoo! as a category development officer and also previously served as director of Hearst New Media Ventures. Emily began her lifelong passion for technology as an OpenDoc evangelist for Apple Computer. Emily holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Stanford University.
Eyal Miller
Managing Director, Ventures
Eyal Miller
Managing Director, Ventures
Eyal Miller is the Managing Director and CEO of Samsung NEXT Tel Aviv, which offers tailored support to startups at every level, from idea to scale. As an expert in entrepreneurial businesses and corporate development, Eyal specializes in early-stage venture development, strategic initiatives and strategies for scaling startups. He was featured in Business Insider as one of the The Most Influential Israelis in Tech Worldwide 2014 and in The Marker Magazine as one of The Most Influential Israelis in Tech 2013. Prior to joining Samsung, Eyal co-founded the Google Campus in Tel Aviv, and served as Head of New Business and Corporate Development for Google Israel and a member of the EMEA Business Development team. He holds his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management and an MBA from Recanati School of Business at Tel Aviv University.
Eyal Shavit
VP, Global Head of Technology, Product
Before joining Samsung NEXT, Eyal was the CTO at Sports Illustrated Play (acquired by NBC), a Sports technology platform for youth and amateur sports. Eyal was also the Chief Product Officer focused on Innovation at Deluxe, the largest provider of post-production technology for major movie studios and online services such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple.
Before Deluxe, Eyal played key Engineering roles at companies such as Tagged, IdleGames and Macrovision where he managed worldwide Engineering for an internationalized Game syndication and Commerce platform, servicing over 250 affiliates including major portals such as Yahoo! Games worldwide, AOL Games, Disney and Earthlink.
Eyal brings 20 years of experience in Artificial Intelligence, building products at scale, hiring top talent and growing teams in-house and distributed worldwide. He took part of multiple successful acquisitions on both sides of the transaction and has helped build over 30 international systems and products serving at times over 300MM users.
Eyal holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence). M.Sc. in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) and B.Sc. in Computer Science & Mathematics.
Gary Coover
Head of Operations, International
Gary Coover
Head of Operations, International
Gary Coover is the Head of Operations at Samsung NEXT International, located in New York, San Francisco, Tel Aviv and Berlin. Gary has spent the last 10+ years architecting and launching scalable structures and growth-generating opportunities for early-stage startups and large multinationals. Gary originally joined the Samsung NEXT founding team in Korea where he helped create the broader Samsung NEXT organizational strategy. As Head of Operations, has helped launch and scale Samsung NEXT Start internationally, create new funding programs, drive internal and external BD efforts, and develop and run all operating processes. Prior to joining Samsung, Gary worked as a consultant at Navigant Consulting and co-founded a modular watch startup (Modify). Gary is based in San Francisco and holds a B.A. in Economics from Santa Clara University and an MBA from University of California Haas School of Business.
Gus Warren
Managing Director, Ventures
Gus Warren
Managing Director, Ventures
Gus Warren is a Managing Director at Samsung NEXT Ventures. Based in New York, Gus focuses on early stage investments in software, services, and media. Prior to Samsung, Gus was a Venture Partner at FirstMark Capital and Co-Founder and COO of Disconnect, a leading consumer privacy software company. Prior to FirstMark and Disconnect, Gus spent 4 years as a VP, SVP, and GM at Spot Runner, a digital video advertising platform whose investors included Battery Ventures, Index Ventures, WPP, and CBS. Prior to Spot Runner, Gus was a venture capitalist at Granite Ventures and Time Warner Ventures, where his portfolio included InfoGear (acquired by Cisco), Speakeasy (acquired by BestBuy), Digital Fountain (acquired by Qualcomm), Arroyo Video Solutions (acquired by Cisco), BigBand Networks (acquired by Arris Corporation), and SkyStream Networks (acquired by Ericsson Television). Earlier in his career, Gus was VP of Marketing and Business Development at NetMarket (acquired by Cendant) and Product Manager at Internet Profiles (acquired by Engage Technologies). Gus graduated with a BA in Government from Cornell University and serves on the advisory board of Red Bear Angels, a network of alumni that invest in Cornell-affiliated start-ups.
Hani Durzy
VP, Head of Marketing & Communications
Hani Durzy
VP, Head of Marketing & Communications
Hankil Yoon
SVP, Head of Samsung NEXT Korea
Hankil Yoon
SVP, Head of Samsung NEXT Korea
Harry Yoon
Principal, Ventures
Harry Yoon
Principal, Ventures
Principal at Samsung NEXT Korea, Harry invests in early stage startups in collaboration with Samsung NEXT investment team. In his daily life, Harry focuses on finding strategic alliance opportunities for startups in Samsung NEXT investment portfolio. Prior to joining Samsung NEXT, Harry was in charge of business development in the Global Alliance Group in Samsung Electronics Mobile Business. Prior to Samsung, Harry spent years in the Software industry as an engineer. He holds an MBA from Texas Austin University and a BS from Seoul National University
Hyungchul Shin
Director, Mergers & Acquisitions
Hyungchul Shin
Director, Mergers & Acquisitions
Hyungchul is a Director in charge of strategic acquisitions in the Samsung NEXT Korea. To ensure Samsung NEXT acquisition efforts become successful, he works tightly with the Samsung NEXT acquisitions team in finding and acquiring innovative startups and making synergy with Samsung business units. Prior to joining Samsung, Hyungchul spent 7 years at Standard Chartered Bank as M&A advisor and 3 years at Macquarie Securities as a research analyst. Hyungchul holds a BS in Economics from Seoul National University.
Jacklyn Trejo
Operations Manager, Ventures
Jacklyn Trejo
Operations Manager, Ventures
Jacklyn is the Operations Manager for Samsung NEXT Ventures. She focuses on deal flow management, portfolio support, financial reporting, and process improvement. Jacklyn holds a BA from Stanford University and an MS from Imperial College London Business School.
Jacopo Lenzi
SVP, Head of Operations
Jacopo Lenzi
SVP, Head of Operations
As Senior Vice President and Head of Operations, Jacopo Lenzi is responsible for running Samsung NEXT’s overall operations, including overseeing Finance, HR, Legal, Marketing, and Communications. Jacopo joined Samsung NEXT in 2013 to establish its M&A effort, which he managed until 2017. Before joining Samsung, Jacopo served as Vice President and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions and Strategic Partnerships at Walmart eCommerce. Prior to that, Jacopo held a variety of roles within Corporate Development and Corporate Strategic Alliances at eBay. He has also worked in strategic consulting with McKinsey & Co. and investment banking at Lazard Freres & Co. Jacopo has an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and a BA from Columbia University.
Jakob Fricke
Director of Platform Business Development
As Director of Platform Business Development for NEXT Europe, Jakob is interested in providing value-added services, offering both guidance to portfolio companies looking to expand to Europe as well as the facilitating collaborations with the Samsung ecosystem.
Jamie Choi
Director
Jamie Choi
Director
As a director of Samsung NEXT Korea, Jamie oversees day-to-day operations of the Korea team and is responsible for representing Samsung NEXT in its mothership. Joining Samsung Electronics, she spearheaded major M&A transactions of Samsung NEXT and expanded her role in securing executive decisions on Samsung NEXT innovation initiatives. She is a seasoned investment banker with 10+ years of experience. Prior to joining Samsung, she served as a Vice President of Goldman Sachs Investment Division. Jamie has a master in international business from Yonsei University and a BA from Syracuse University.
Jim Gerber
VP, Partnerships
Jim Gerber
VP, Partnerships
As Vice President of Partnerships, Jim Gerber leads efforts to work with companies providing complementary products and services to Samsung. These initiatives span the range from small startups to industry behemoths and are generally focused on software and services. Jim was a Sr. Director at Google, and spent 8 years building teams to drive partnerships for Book Search, Google News, AdSense, and other initiatives. Most recently, Jim helped build Yub Inc. and sell it to Quotient Technology where he was VP of Business Development. Jim holds a BA from UC Berkeley, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Jinho Kim
Principal
Jinho Kim
Principal
Jiwook Seo
Director
Jiwook Seo
Director
Joanne Park
Associate, Ventures
Joanne Park
Associate, Ventures
Joanne Park is an associate at Samsung NEXT Ventures. Based in Korea, Joanne invests in early-stage startups in software and services with technology innovations, as well as drives strategic collaboration with business units for startups. She holds a BS from Yonsei University.
Jonathan Tepper
Vice President and General Counsel
Jonathan Tepper
Vice President and General Counsel
As Vice President and General Counsel, Jonathan Tepper overseas Samsung NEXT’s legal practice, including its M&A, investments and partnerships activity, as well as its SmartThings subsidiary. Before joining Samsung, Jonathan was an investment banker with Citigroup and a corporate attorney with the international law firms of Clifford Chance and Skadden Arps. Jonathan received an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business, a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and a B.A. from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor – Honors College.
Kristine McDermott
Chief of Staff, Product
Leo Chang
Principal, Ventures
Leo Chang
Principal, Ventures
Leo Chang is a Principal at Samsung NEXT, San Francisco, where he serves as an investor and mentor for early-stage startup companies. Before Samsung NEXT, Leo was the Chief Technology Officer of ShopRunner and Co-founder and CTO of ShopSanity prior to its acquisition by ShopRunner. Prior to that, he was CTO of Infospace, as well as Co-founder and CTO of Clickshift, which was acquired by Webtrends. He also served as the VP of Software Engineering for Savi Technology, and CTO of NBC Internet after it acquired Flyswat, where he was also co-founder and CTO. Leo holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in computer science from MIT.
Lily Chen
Senior Manager, Global Strategy
As a part of the Strategy team, Lily has worked on several initiatives, from IoT Cybersecurity to Connected Cars. She is currently spearheading Samsung NEXT's efforts in building out its China network to better navigate and understand the Chinese market, contribute to the ecosystem, and create new opportunities for Samsung NEXT's global innovation vision.
Lily has cross-border international strategic and operational experience, including her time at UberChina. She is fluent in Mandarin, is licensed to practice law in NY, and has dabbled as a Wall Street debt analyst.
Mario Branciforti
Director, Ventures
Mario is a Director for Samsung NEXT Ventures, located in London he sources and leads early-stage investments, with an avid interest in deep tech, enterprise software, AI/ML, Robotics and cybersecurity. Mario, who has already assisted in NEXT’s first Berlin investment, Grover, is dedicated to helping founders and entrepreneurs through mentorship and guidance and heads up our London based “Office Hours” sessions.
Mia Manantan
Office Manager, New York
Mia Manantan
Office Manager, New York
Mia Manantan is the Office Manager of Samsung NEXT in New York. Mia makes sure all of the nuts and bolts are in place in an especially fast paced environment like New York City. She brings a strong interest in tech and startups along with a robust background in communications and operations/logistics. Prior to Samsung NEXT Start, she worked in member relations and conference/event coordination in the nonprofit sector and operations in trade marketing for Scholastic Inc. Mia holds a B.S. in Health Care Management with a concentration in Public Health and Advocacy from New York University.
Nick Nigam
Principal, Ventures
In his role of Principal at Samsung NEXT Ventures Europe, Nick focuses on early stage investments and acquisitions of startups. Whilst heavily involved in the establishing and building out of the Samsung NEXT Europe team, Nick is keen to change the image of CVC’s and has already worked on the investing and acquiring of startups such as LiquidSky, Spatial, AdGear, Unbabel and Grover.
Patrick Chang
Director, Ventures
Patrick Chang
Director, Ventures
Patrick Chang is an early stage investor at Samsung NEXT Ventures. He primarily focuses on seed to series B enterprise / B2B investing and specializes in security, AI, enterprise/industrial IOT, blockchain 2.0, distributed computing and more. Prior to Samsung, Patrick was at Foundation Capital with a focus on SaaS and enterprise software. He has over 12 years of experience investing in enterprise software including IT security, infrastructure, developer tools, business intelligence/analytics and more ranging in various stages from seed to growth equity at Bain Capital Ventures, Investor Growth Capital, New York Angels and Updata. Patrick is also a recovering tech investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers, where he helped public and venture backed technology companies raise capital and execute M&A transactions.
Raymond Liao
VP, Managing Director, Ventures
Raymond Liao
VP, Managing Director, Ventures
Raymond Liao is a Managing Director at Samsung NEXT Ventures. Based in Silicon Valley, Raymond looks for early-stage startups with fundamental technology innovations, with special interests in Security/Privacy, Machine Learning, and Enterprise IoT. Previously Raymond was the founding CTO of Siemens Industrial Communications business in Germany. He joined Siemens TTB in Berkeley to bring external innovations by spin-in, investment and partnership. Some of his success cases led to the market-leading industrial WLAN business for Siemens, and were featured in Siemens Annual Report and Harvard Business Review. In his past life, Raymond was a productive researcher with over 20 academic publications and 10 issued patents. He received Ph.D. from Columbia University with the Eliahu Jury Award.
Ricardo Mendez
Technical Director, International
As NEXT Europe’s Chief of Technology, Ricardo splits his time between supporting the NEXT Ventures team, seeking out and reviewing new startups for potential investment and the NEXT Platform team. Here he takes an active role on helping startups, both from our portfolio and from the community at large. As one of our in-house mentors, Ricardo also gives his time to the NEXT Europe “Office Hours” mentoring sessions in Berlin.
Royi Benyossef
Manager, Ventures
Royi Benyossef
Manager, Ventures
Royi Benyossef is the ecosystem relations manager at Samsung NEXT TLV, an early stage investment and innovation arm that focuses on software and services. Royi is also an Android Google expert since 2013 with a vast experience as an Android evangelist on stages that included Google I/O, AppsWorld, DroidCon, CodeMotion, BABBQ and more. Prior to joining Samsung, Royi was the Android group leader at Vidmind where he managed a multinational group of engineers in designing and building Android clients for Vidmind's OTT platform as well as proprietary Android based Smart TVs and STBs with Hisense.
Siggi Hindrichs
Principal, Ventures
Siggi Hindrichs is a Principal at Samsung NEXT, San Francisco, where she invests in and works closely with early-stage startups. Siggi is also the Co-founder of Women in Enterprise, a group dedicated to bringing together founders and investors for learning and networking opportunities. Before joining the investment team in 2017, Siggi came to Samsung NEXT as an entrepreneur-in-residence, exploring the drone fleet management space. Siggi holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Virginia, a Master’s degree from Boston University, and a law degree from Stanford Law School.
Stefano Invernizzi
Head of Strategy, Global Strategy
Stefano leads projects that direct the work of Samsung NEXT, with the ultimate goal of transforming the way Samsung operates and does business. From designing a new, long-term vision on how Samsung can create value for our customers, to addressing day-to-day questions coming from NEXT teams building innovative products, working on M&A deals, and partnering with Ventures to develop common investment theses.
Stefano has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Degree in Economics and Management from Universita’ Bocconi (Italy).
Thom Phan
Head of Finance
Thom Phan
Head of Finance
Thom leads the Finance team at Samsung NEXT, where he provides strategic and operational financial partnership across the executive team and the investment portfolio on a case-to-case basis. Thom brings a unique blend of financial and operational experience to the team. In addition to corporate finance/corporate development and investment banking roles, Thom has also held roles in engineering and sales. Thom attended the University of Virginia, where he obtained a BSEE, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his MBA.
Tim Casio
Director, Mergers & Acquisitions
Tim Casio
Director, Mergers & Acquisitions
Tim Casio is a Director on the Samsung NEXT M&A team based in New York City. He focuses on software and services companies around the world particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence, payment technologies and content services. Prior to joining Samsung Tim spent 12 years at Honeywell focused on aerospace and defense electronics and software. He holds a BS from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Todd Graves
VP, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions
Todd Graves
VP, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions
Tracy Hinds
Platform Manager
Tracy Hinds
Platform Manager
Tracy is the Platform Manager at Samsung NEXT. She is using her passion for startup engagement, cultivated in her prior work as a web engineer, community builder, and strategist to build a service platform that provides portfolio companies resources, value-added services, tools, and access that leverages the unique strengths of Samsung to help teams succeed and scale. Tracy holds a B.S. in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina and serves on the Node.js Foundation Board of Directors.
Travis Bogard
SVP, Head of Product
Travis Bogard
SVP, Head of Product
Vincent Tang
Principal, Ventures
Vin Tang is an investor at Samsung NEXT. Previously, he was as a machine learning engineer with Clarapath/New York Genome Center after earning his degree from Carnegie Mellon. In his spare time, he builds flying and talking machines, and mentors at NYU's AI NexusLab, 37 Angels, and TechStars.
Vivian Lovett
Assistant General Council
Vivian Lovett
Assistant General Council