Samsung Invests in US 'Flagship Pioneering' Fund

Investment in Bio Innovation Companies Including Samsung C&T
Bio Venture Capital Founded by Moderna Founder

Samsung C&T Corporation and its subsidiaries Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis, together with Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (hereinafter Samsung), announced on the 11th that they will invest in the 'US Flagship Pioneering Fund VIII' through the Life Science Fund No. 2 (SVIC Fund No. 64, KRW 72 billion) established by the three companies.

Flagship Pioneering, founded in 2000, is one of the top three global venture capital firms with approximately KRW 19 trillion in cumulative assets under management, specializing in the life sciences sector. It is particularly renowned as a venture capital firm that directly establishes and nurtures bio new technology companies by leveraging its internal research organization. To date, it has founded over 100 companies, including Moderna, and has taken about 30 of them public.

Seoul Samsung Electronics Seocho Tower. Photo by Yongjun Cho jun21@

The newly formed Flagship Pioneering Fund VIII plans to focus investments on AI-based new drug development platform technologies, with the fund size reportedly reaching a total of USD 2.6 billion.

Samsung plans to receive priority information on life science innovative technology companies discovered through the Flagship Pioneering Fund VIII and will review additional investments on a company-by-company basis, utilizing this as a key channel for discovering new businesses in the bio and healthcare sectors.

Samsung Life Science Fund No. 1 had already invested USD 15 million in a company under Flagship Pioneering in August 2022. Additionally, in January, Samsung C&T announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation MOU with Flagship Pioneering through Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, together with its bio business subsidiaries, to further strengthen future collaboration.

Jae-woo Kim, Vice President in charge of Life Science Business at Samsung C&T, stated, "This investment in Flagship Pioneering Fund VIII is part of our efforts to discover next-generation technologies in the bio field," adding, "We expect to expand investment opportunities in Samsung's bio new business through the discovery of innovative technologies that surpass the limitations of existing diagnostic and therapeutic methods and future technologies that change the world."

Andre Andonian, Head of Flagship Pioneering Asia Pacific, emphasized, "The successful fundraising of this fund demonstrates the market's trust in Flagship's fund management capabilities despite the stagnant investment environment," and added, "Fund VIII will be utilized for Flagship's strengths in founding and nurturing new technology companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.