How an outside idea reaches a company, in its own words · checked 2026-10-29
How to sell an idea to Samsung
Does not take outside ideas
Samsung Electronics does not accept, review or consider ideas it did not ask for, and anything sent is Samsung’s to use for any purpose. What it buys from outside is companies: SmartThings and Harman International.
“Samsung Electronics and its employees do not accept, review or consider ideas, suggestions, concepts and the like that have not been officially requested by us (“Unsolicited Idea Submissions”).”
What you agree to by sending something
“Both solicited and unsolicited submissions (collectively “Submissions”) will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary in each instance.”
“Any submission may be used by Samsung without restriction for any purpose whatsoever, including, without limitation, reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast or posting, and you hereby irrevocably waive, release and give up any claim that any use of such submission violates any of your rights, including, without limitation, copyrights, trademarks, patents, moral rights, privacy rights,…”
What it says it looks for
“Each year, the team meetswith 1,500 startups, but selects only 100 for a second meeting, and then 15-20 businesses for ultimate funding.”
“This unique approach gives early-stage software and services startups the opportunity to work with Samsung at any step in their journey and also allows NEXT to partner with entrepreneurs throughout the entire lifecycle of their startup, from idea to scale.”
What it has bought from outside
2014
SmartThings from SmartThings (US smart-home startup)
“In August 2014, Samsung Electronics announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire SmartThings. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] The financial terms of the deal were never publicly disclosed but were estimated as high as $200 million by some trade publications at the time. [ 16 ]” en.wikipedia.org
2017
Harman International from Harman International Industries $8 billion
“On November 14, 2016, Harman entered into an agreement to be acquired by Samsung Electronics for $8 billion in cash.…” en.wikipedia.org
Other companies that take an invention or product idea
