The C-Lab exhibition at CES 2025 featured 15 startups and projects, including 12 from C-Lab Outside, Samsung’s program for external startups; two projects from C-Lab Inside, which is an in-house idea incubation program for Samsung employees; and one C-Lab Spin-Off startup, which was founded following its success within C-Lab Inside.

Many of these startups were recognized with CES Innovation Awards from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) for their technological innovation and creativity. Samsung Newsroom met with three CES Innovation Award winners, Pinpoint (smart city technology), Quester (XR technology) and GhostPass (security/fintech technology), at the C-Lab exhibition to learn more about their groundbreaking work.

▲ The C-Lab exhibition at CES 2025

Pinpoint: First Step Toward Global Recognition With C-Lab

▲ Pinpoint employees full of spirit as they vow to expand their business globally

Samsung’s C-Lab is helping innovative startups make their mark on the global stage. Through the C-Lab Outside program, Samsung provides opportunities for outstanding startups to participate in world-class exhibitions such as CES while offering support for exhibition preparation and customized consulting for the CES Innovation Award application process.

Pinpoint, a 2024 participant in C-Lab Outside, made its global debut at the C-Lab exhibition at CES 2025. The startup won an Innovation Award in the Smart Cities category for its IoT-integrated management solution for building operations.

▲ Pinpoint’s CES 2025 Innovation Award trophy along with pamphlets on smart building operation systems for next-generation buildings

Pinpoint’s building solution is a smart management system that increases operational efficiency for building operators while delivering a personalized user experience. Operators benefit from integrated control over all resources within the building, while users can easily access various services such as reservations, parking, robot delivery and more via a mobile app.

▲ A Pinpoint representative explains the startup’s IoT-integrated management solution for building operations to a visitor.

At the exhibition, Pinpoint focused on demonstrating its cloud-based optimized building solutions in action. “I think Pinpoint’s smart building solutions can be very useful in Korea considering the buildings there are probably built quite vertically, instead of horizontally like they generally are here in the United States, where I’m living,” said one visitor.

“We aim to gauge the response of the global market and actively seek opportunities for collaboration through participation in CES,” said Jin Hyuk Ahn, CEO of Pinpoint. “Thanks to C-Lab’s structured support, we are excited and proud to be able to present our solutions on a global stage, where many consumer-oriented products and services compete with each other,” he added. “It was challenging to fully understand the judging criteria and convey our core strengths, but the case studies and data preparation guides provided by C-Lab were invaluable.”

▲ Pinpoint CEO Jin Hyuk Ahn

Pinpoint is enhancing its technology by piloting its solutions in conjunction with SmartThings Pro, an advanced enterprise version of Samsung’s SmartThings platform, and b.IoT, Samsung’s integrated building management solution. After sharing its vision with the world at CES 2025, Pinpoint plans to continue further enhancing user experience-driven space planning and design toward becoming the gold standard in the industry.”

Quester: Locally Discovered by C-Lab, Globally Recognized at CES

▲ Quester employees expressing how excited they are to be part of CES for their first time

Samsung’s C-Lab serves as a platform to help regional startups grow as well. In addition to Seoul, C-Lab Outside programs operate in Daegu, Gwangju and Gyeongbuk (Gyeongsan) to nurture and promote outstanding startups.

Quester, which grew through C-Lab Outside Daegu in 2024, showcased its innovative hand-tracking glove technology at CES 2025 — a debut made more special by winning an Innovation Award in the XR Technologies & Accessories category.

▲ A demonstration of how Quester’s hand-tracking glove technology utilizes motion data

Quester’s hand-tracking glove technology precisely identifies and tracks the way a hand moves to implement such movements. To overcome the limitations of existing technologies, which are often sensitive to external factors that limit the usage environment, Quester has adopted an approach called sensor fusion. This approach delivers stable performance by combining the advantages of multiple sensors and will be applied in various fields, including immersive content, robotics and motion capture.

At its booth at CES 2025, Quester focused on demonstrating its technological strengths and development direction through prototypes. These demonstrations allowed Quester to not only test their technology but also attract crucial feedback from potential clients, which the startup plans to incorporate into its research on new functions to satisfy various client needs.

▲ Quester CEO Jeongwu Lee explains her startup’s high-performance hand-tracking glove technology to a visitor.

“By researching hand-tracking technology starting with virtual experimental content, we were able to develop an innovative solution with universal applicability,” said Jeongwu Lee, CEO of Quester. “Through the infrastructure of C-Lab Outside Daegu, along with various consulting opportunities and the experience acquired from promoting our technology at domestic technology fairs, we were able to grow further.”

At CES 2025, Quester aims to connect with various industry stakeholders to identify collaboration opportunities and gain insights for enhancing its products.

GhostPass: Expanding Beyond Korea With C-Lab’s Support

▲ GhostPass employees posing for a photo with their CES 2025 Best of Innovation Award trophy

Samsung continues to support the growth of C-Lab graduates. Even after graduation, these startups benefit from industry partnerships, investments and opportunities for synergies with Samsung, helping them become more competitive in the global market.

GhostPass, part of C-Lab Outside in 2023, showcases its biometric authentication technology at the C-Lab exhibition for the second consecutive year. GhostPass’ CES achievements include winning an Innovation Award in the Smart Cities category last year and the Best of Innovation Award in the FinTech category this year.

▲ GhostPass’ CES 2025 Best of Innovation Award (FinTech category) next to a video demonstrating how the startup’s biometric authentication solution can be used for in-store payment

GhostPass’ biometric authentication solution is characterized by its two-factor authentication technology. The technology stores biometric information, such as facial and iris data, only on the user’s smartphone rather than on a server or separate device and supports remote authentication from other devices. This increases security and allows users to manage their biometric information directly on their devices. The solution is also expected to help businesses reduce operational costs by eliminating the need for server-based storage.

▲ A visitor from Türkiye having fun trying out GhostPass’ biometric authentication technology

At CES 2025, GhostPass expanded its application to the fintech sector, demonstrating an unmanned store concept where visitors experienced biometric authentication from entry to payment. “What’s most impressive is the fact that no third party is collecting the biometric data. It’s an innovative solution that I think will have many applications,” said Huseyin Ada,  a visitor from Türkiye after trying out the technology.

“As a member of the C-Lab Family, we’ve had the opportunity to participate in global exhibitions and receive valuable feedback from industry stakeholders worldwide,” said Seongwan Lee, CEO of GhostPass. “All of our brochures are gone already! Our booth’s popularity this year is definitely exceeding last year’s. With this momentum, we hope to establish global collaboration partnerships at CES 2025 and achieve tangible results,” he added. “Advice from Samsung employees was instrumental in preparing for the exhibition and showcasing our technology effectively.”

▲ GhostPass CEO Seongwan Lee

GhostPass, which has successfully attracted investment through C-Lab, continues to grow by leveraging C-Lab Outside’s networking opportunities and participating in exhibitions around the world. The startup plans to pursue partnerships in diverse fields, including identity verification, access security and payment, while expanding overseas.

▲ The C-Lab exhibition at CES 2025, filled with guests eager to learn more about Korea’s vibrant startup scene

The C-Lab exhibition at CES 2025 has served as a platform for Samsung C-Lab startups to make a huge leap onto the world stage. As these budding companies grow from the experience, so will Korea’s startup scene as a whole. Samsung Electronics and the C-Lab Family remain committed to strengthening that ecosystem, from discovering extraordinary startups to propelling those startups to previously unimaginable heights.

C-Lab Inside: Four Projects From Samsung Employees To Debut

Since 2016, Samsung has been exhibiting its C-Lab Inside projects at Eureka Park, the main exhibition space for startups from around the world at CES. During the exhibition, the marketability and customer response will be gauged to enhance and further advance the startups’ projects. Those that have proven marketability will either transfer to an in-house division of Samsung or become spin-off projects that will be supported by the company.

The four C-Lab Inside projects that will be exhibited are:

• Piloto, an AI solution that helps children develop proper smartphone usage habits
• PROBA, an AI-based online exam service for administrators, test-takers and supervisors
• innovision, a nursery mobile for early detection of infant strabismus
• ZamStar, a smart electric guitar that makes learning guitar easy with LED guides

C-Lab Outside: Nine Startups That Are Ready for the Global Market

Created in October 2018, C-Lab Outside is a startup acceleration program that was launched to invigorate the startup ecosystem in South Korea. Startups enrolled in the C-Lab Outside program are provided with office workspaces, expert mentoring from Samsung employees, participation in global IT exhibitions, and financial and investor relations support.

Five startups that have been incubated directly by Samsung over the past year and four startups from the Daegu Center and the Gyeong-buk Center for Creative Economy & Innovation that are part of C-Lab Outside will also participate in CES 2022. They include:

• Petnow, an AI-based pet biometric recognition solution
• Digisonic, a 3D immersive audio solution for mobile devices
• Verses, an interactive metaverse music app
• bitsensing, an array of imaging radar technology solutions for autonomous driving and smart cities
• SELECTSTAR, an AI-based data collection and labelling platform
• RGT Inc., a multifunctional modular serving robot
• MoreDream Inc., an input system to improve accessibility and productivity for the visually impaired
• Yellowknife, a vehicle display customization platform
• MONIT, a smart diaper care solution for elderly patients

Furthermore, nine startups that have been spun off from C-Lab Inside also plan to set up their own exhibition booths at CES 2022. The spun-off startups that will exhibit include EVAR, Prinker Korea Inc., lululab and Linkface.

C-Lab Startups Recognized as Honorees and Best of Innovation at CES 2022

In November of 2021, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced CES 2022 Innovation Awards across 27 product categories, including those recognized as Best of Innovation. Projects from the C-Lab startups received one Best of Innovation award and 21 Innovation Awards Honoree nods for their standout technologies.

Notably, Petnow, which developed an AI-based biometric recognition solution for pets, was named a CES 2022 Best of Innovation award winner in the Software & Mobile Apps category. The Petnow app uses a camera to automatically detect, photograph and register a dog’s nose print, making it easier to find lost dogs.

C-Lab’s other award-winning products and services include: Digisonic, EVAR, lululab, Verses, bitsensing, Linkface, LUPLE, BLUEFEEL, Prinker Korea Inc, etc. The CES 2022 Innovation Award-winning products will be displayed separately at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas.

“With the support of the C-Lab program, these startups have proven their technological prowess on the global stage, as evidenced by the most Innovation Awards ever at CES,” said Hark Kyu Park, President and Chief Financial Officer at Samsung Electronics. “We hope the startups that had difficulty expanding their businesses due to the pandemic will be able to target the global market more actively, starting with CES 2022.”

Samsung Plans To Have Nurtured 500 Startups by Next Year

Started in December 2012, C-Lab Inside nurtures employees’ innovative ideas while instilling a corporate culture in which creativity is at the fore. The program supports the development of ideas from all areas of the business. Since 2015, Samsung has been supporting successful C-Lab projects that demonstrate great market potential, and facilitating their launch as startups under the C-Lab spin-off policy. Leveraging the success of the C-Lab Inside initiative, C-Lab Outside has been expanding Samsung’s support for new ventures to startups and innovations outside of the Samsung network since 2018.

Samsung Electronics had previously announced that it would accelerate 300 Korean startups through C-Lab Outside and 200 projects through C-Lab Inside over a five-year period. The company has nurtured a total of 406 startups (244 from C-Lab Outside and 162 from C-Lab Inside) so far, and plans to reach 500 by next year.

Samsung Electronics will demonstrate its C-Lab products and services from January 5th through the 8th at the C-Lab exhibition booth on the first floor of Hall G at Venetian Expo (formerly Sands Expo), Eureka Park. Visitors who are unable to visit the site in person will be able to watch product videos online from today until January 30th on the C-Lab website (https://www.claboutside.com/ces2022), and will also be offered chances to communicate with the startups.

[C-Lab Spin-Offs Participating in CES 2022]

Started in December 2012, Samsung C-Lab Inside nurtures employees’ innovative ideas while instilling a corporate culture in which creativity is at the fore. Since its inception, C-Lab Inside has incubated 339 projects with the participation of 1395 employees. This May, Samsung announced support for four other startups, bringing the total of startups that the company supports to 57 along with the participation of 199 employees.

Read on to learn more about C-Lab Inside, the spin-off program, and the latest five startups to be selected for it below.

Nurturing Autonomy and Innovation

Once ideas are selected as C-Lab Inside projects, employees are given up to one full year away from their day-to-day roles at Samsung to focus on implementing their ideas, as well as a research fund, dedicated spaces and the autonomy to create their own work environment. If the outcomes of the projects are transferred to an in-house division for further development, the members receive a special incentive as a reward.

Since 2015, Samsung has been supporting C-Lab Inside projects with the potential not just to transfer into an in-house division, but also with greater market potential as a C-Lab spin-off in order to help activate the Korean startup ecosystem. Samsung supports these spin-off companies with seed money investment, a 3-month mentoring program about finance, law, investment and more, and business consulting for company building and setting business plans.

The founders of a startup selected for the C-Lab Inside spin-off program are given severance pay as well as a business foundation fund. In addition, they get the opportunity to return to Samsung Electronics within five years after spin-off. “We are happy to support these employees with entrepreneurial mindsets as they open a new chapter of their lives,” said Yoon-ho Choi, President & Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Samsung Electronics. “We look forward to seeing these new startups becoming truly innovative startups that bring changes to everyone’s daily lives.”

Simplifying Diagnoses: Diavision

Founded by biotechnology and software experts from Samsung Electronics’ Health & Medical Equipment Business division, the Diavison startup developed a COVID-19 quick diagnosis kit reading solution that harnesses a smartphone camera and image analysis technology.

Diavision’s idea was initially proposed at Samsung’s Grand Discussion to Overcome COVID-19, hosted by Choi, on Samsung’s company-wide intelligence platform MOSAIC last April when the pandemic was rapidly emerging as a global issue. While 1,620 ideas were proposed by Samsung employees harnessing their own as well as the company’s technical skills and capabilities, Diavision was selected as an excellent idea, and subsequently selected as a C-Lab Inside project.

Diavision’s strategy focused on the issue that, thanks to the rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide, there was a significant increase in demand for accurate and rapid diagnostic kits. The COVID-19 rapid diagnosis kit has the advantage of being easily used by anyone, but as the infection is visually determined, concerns surrounding misjudgment can arise if the results are blurred. Therefore, the U.S. FDA recommends distributing inspection equipment together for accurate determination, but it is difficult to access this at home, small hospitals, clinics or pharmacies due to its price and more complicated operation methods.

Diavision solved this problem using smartphones and image analysis technology. When the results of the diagnostic kit are photographed with a smartphone camera, the number of viruses is quantified through image analysis using self-developed digital signal processing technology – meaning that results can be determined even when it is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. In clinical trials at domestic medical institutions, it was verified that the accuracy of Diavision’s solution was much higher than that of discriminating solely with the eyes.

Diavision’s solution works not only for COVID-19 diagnosis, but also for neutralizing antibody diagnosis kits that check antibody production after vaccination. As a result, Diavision has been receiving requests for cooperation from the bio-industry, including diagnostic kit manufacturers, even before the spin-off announcement. What’s more, Diavision’s solution has the potential to be expanded to a wide range of tests that use rapid diagnostic kits, including the flu and metabolic diseases.

Easier Customer Interactions: Cheeseade

Following the rise of smaller, unmanned stores during the COVID-19 pandemic to help promote social distancing measures, startup Cheeseade has developed a solution that harnesses visible light communication (LiFi) to reduce the burden on these smaller stores.

The solution consists of a visible light transmission device and a smartphone app for reception that can be simply attached to existing kiosks or lighting. It allows customers to check product information and make their order using this LiFi device simply by turning on the smartphone app at the store. Store operators will be able to manage customer data by simply installing this inexpensive and simple solution, allowing them to continue operating as smart unmanned stores.

An Intelligent Dance Gamer: Goose Lab

Goose Lab, a startup founded by Samsung mobile phone UX designers and AI experts with 14 years of dance experience, has developed an AI dance game platform that is based on motion recognition technology.

While in the C-Lab Inside program, the Goose Lab founders, dance enthusiasts themselves, were following the growing trends online that saw users create dance videos online. But while observing the explosion of dance videos onto YouTube, TikTok and Instagram during the pandemic, they noticed that there were many users who were not able to correct their movements, as they were not able to receive explanation or feedback when dancing alone at home.

Goose Lab’s dance game platform utilizes AI vision technology to recognize, analyze, and provide feedback on users’ dance movements using only mobile devices or laptop cameras and without requiring any separate device such as a console. The startup plans to use this technology to create a dance game platform that allows people around the world to engage in avatar dance battles, and also aims to create a metaverse platform where dance lovers can gather to create and share games in the future.

Making Homebrewing Easy: Booze & Buzz

Booze & Buzz is a startup run by a Samsung mobile device development expert and a mobile UX designer who have lived in Italy for 10 years and won multiple international homebrewing competitions. Their solution shortens the brewing period of homebrewing from around three weeks to less than seven days, reduces the size of the product to be more comfortable for the home and comes with ingredient kits so that anyone can easily make the alcohol of their choice at home.

Through the solution’s app, users can monitor and control the production process of their home-brewed drinks, and are able to make a variety of drinks including beer, makgeolli (Korean rice wine), sparkling wine and even mead (honey wine).

In the future, the startup plans to provide personalized services that allow users to order their own alcohol kit by selecting the ingredients they want, and is set on leading the homebrewing culture in line with the growing trend of home-based lifestyles following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sensor-Powered Orthotics: Logos Bioelectronics

Logos Bioelectronics has developed a personalized foot brace – a functional insole – production solution for the 10 to 20% of the population who have difficulty walking due to changes in their foot shape.

The global foot orthotics market is expected to grow by more than 6% every year, and is currently worth about 2.9 billion USD. Usually, it takes a lot of time and money to manufacture foot orthosis, not to mention customer hospital bills, but Logos Bioelectronics has solved this issue with their innovative engine that collects data through sensors and extracts personalized foot orthotics.

When users put the sensor insole developed by Logos Bioelectronics into their shoes, the AI algorithm is able to diagnose the user’s walking posture and foot shape as they walk. The customized foot orthotics can be easily ordered online at a lower price than products currently available on the market.

Investing in Startup Longevity

Samsung Electronics has invested a total of 25 million USD over the past six years to support 57 C-Lab Inside spin-off startups, thus creating over 470 jobs. These startups have subsequently raised a total of over 84 million USD in follow-up investments, and their overall corporate value has surpassed 430 million USD.

The average survival rate of Korean startups after three years is 41.5%, and the average survival rate after five years falls to 29.2% – but the survival rate of C Lab spin-off startups is 98% after three years and 65% after five years, well above the national average.

Not only does the C-Lab inside startup spin-off program result in innovative solutions designed to help improve people’s lives, but it also results in the enhancement of Korean startups’ global reputation. At CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics exhibition, the program’s solutions won 14 innovation awards.

Particularly of note is EVAR, an electric vehicle charging solution company that spun off in 2018 and recently received a 4.6 million USD investment from Samsung Venture Investment and a major domestic automaker. EVAR is preparing to launch a subscription charging business in the future, and is currently expanding its scope to a wireless car charging service.

Furthermore, Lululab, an AI skin analysis service company that spun off in 2017, has entered more than 100 overseas offline stores in 11 countries through B2B partnerships, contributing to the K-beauty wave in the global beauty market. The company, which currently has more than 700,000 skin data points, aims to be listed on the KOSDAQ in 2023.

Stay tuned to Samsung Newsroom for more news and information on C-Lab Inside and its startup spin-off program.

Now, Samsung Electronics has announced that it will support four new startups that have grown out of the company’s C-Lab Inside in-house venture program. Read more about the four new startups below.

Scan & Dive

Startup ‘Scan & Dive’ has developed a device that can analyze and classify different types of fabrics. When it is used to scan clothes, the device can tell the thickness, abrasiveness, and weaving methods used, while also classifying textiles such as cotton, polyester and rayon.

Scan & Dive’s solution can be used to automate clothing classification at laundry facilities and recycling centers and can also be used to help fashion companies inspect fabrics and make purchasing decisions. The device also has the potential to have its use cases expanded to materials such as plastic, metal and others.

Ice Linker

C-Lab spin-off ‘Ice Linker’ has created a smart cooler that automatically manages the temperatures of users that are running a fever. When worn on the head, it measures the patient’s body temperature from both temples and gradually reduces the temperature of the inner cooling plate to cool the user down.

In addition, Ice Linker offers a feature that manages the patient’s condition in real-time and delivers notifications through a smartphone app if their condition worsens. Going forward, the use cases for this device will be expanded so that it can be used by outdoor workers and by those who enjoy playing sports.

Pinot Lab

Startup ‘Pinot Lab’ has established an app that recommends wines to suit users’ tastes. When users take a picture of a wine label, it provides flavor, rating, food pairing, price, and purchase information to help them quickly and easily find a wine that’s right for them.

When users enter their meal of choice into the app, it harnesses AI-based food matching algorithms to recommend a wine to go with their meal. The app can even tell users where they can buy the wines that it recommends!

STRA

‘STRA’, another startup launched through C-Lab, has developed a guitar chord generation app called ‘CODA’ that enables users to view chords and practice playing whatever songs they may choose. When the name of a song is provided, the app’s AI engine extracts the audio data and converts it to guitar chords. The app even helps users learn the correct finger placements.

Looking ahead, STRA is planning to expand the use cases for CODA so that the app can be used with a music platform that helps connect music teachers to people who want to learn to play instruments and provides contactless music lessons.

Other Recently Launched Startups

C-Lab spin-off ‘WELT’, a digital healthcare startup that develops smart belts, has recently raised funding of USD 5.3 million from total healthcare company Handok and two other venture capitals. The startup is planning to work with investors to develop digital therapeutics for alcoholism and insomnia.

‘AIMT’, which develops high-performance vacuum insulation materials, is expanding its business from insulation panels for home appliances to eco-friendly cold chain packaging that is made from recycling PET bottles. Last December, it was selected as a ‘preliminary unicorn special guarantee company’ by the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and its sales tripled on the previous year to reach USD 14.2 million in 2020.

In addition to the C-Lab spin-off program providing startups with the investment and business consulting they need to grow, Samsung provides a five-year window during which employees who launch startups can return to their jobs if their endeavors prove unsuccessful. As a result, 182 employees have established 52 startups since the inception of the C-Lab program.

Speaking about the program, Vice President and Head of the Creativity & Innovation Center at Samsung Electronics Inkuk Hahn said, “Going forward, we will continue to support promising C-Lab projects and employees with entrepreneurial ambitions to allow them to spin their ventures off from the program and contribute to the startup ecosystem in Korea.”