What if someone who struggles to read a legal, financial or official document could understand what it says before putting their signature on it?

That question led young innovator Abhinav Jaiswal to begin developing a technology-led solution aimed at making important documents easier to understand for people with limited literacy.

For Abhinav, who grew up in the small town of Ballia and is now based in Varanasi, what began as an idea inspired by an everyday problem is gradually becoming something bigger.

His idea has taken him to the Top 20 of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026, Samsung’s flagship innovation programme for young people, where mentorship and exposure to experts are helping him think about how an early-stage idea can be developed into a real-world solution — and potentially, over time, a scalable venture.

Solving an Everyday Indian Problem

Abhinav has been fascinated by Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and STEM from an early age. But as his understanding of technology grew, so did his interest in using it to solve problems he could see around him.

One such problem was document literacy.

Legal agreements, financial documents and official paperwork can be difficult to understand, particularly for people who are illiterate or semi-literate. Complex language can leave people dependent on others to explain information before they sign or consent to something.

Abhinav began asking whether technology could help bridge this gap by making important information easier to understand.

That question became the starting point for Team ItzFOD.

Taking an Idea Beyond Technology

Being selected among the Top 20 teams at Samsung Solve for Tomorrow gave Abhinav an opportunity to take the idea beyond its initial technological concept.

At the SFT Bootcamp, conversations with mentors and experts pushed him to ask a different set of questions: Who exactly was he solving the problem for? How would people use the solution? What would make it relevant in the real world? And how could a prototype clearly demonstrate the connection between the problem and its potential impact?

“My idea needed guidance and mentorship on the prototype,” Abhinav said.

One of his biggest learnings was that a prototype should not simply demonstrate what technology can do. It should also tell the story of the problem it is trying to solve.

“I learnt that you should try to relate a story to the prototype,” he said.

For someone whose early interest was driven by a fascination with AI and Machine Learning, it marked an important shift — from thinking primarily about technology to thinking about the people who might eventually use it.

From Prototype to Potential Venture

The mentoring also encouraged Abhinav to reconsider the scale of the opportunity.

“My idea is too big. I realised I would be solving many issues,” he said.

He began to see that document literacy is not simply about translating or simplifying difficult words. It is also about access to information and helping people better understand what they are being asked to agree to.

His prototype continues to evolve, but Abhinav says the way he thinks about and communicates the idea has already changed significantly.

“The prototype may not have changed much, but my pitching has improved. I learnt a lot from the suggestions given by the mentors,” he said.

That evolution is also helping him understand something fundamental to entrepreneurship: an idea rarely begins as a finished product.

It has to be questioned, tested, explained, refined and sometimes reimagined before it can become a solution capable of operating at scale.

Small Towns, Big Ideas

Abhinav’s journey also reflects a larger story emerging from Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026.

More than half of the Top 20 teams this year come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 India, with finalists representing 18 cities across 12 states. Many of their ideas are rooted in problems they have encountered in their own communities.

Through Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, these young innovators are gaining access to mentorship, technology expertise and a national platform to develop those ideas further.

The Top 20 finalists are being mentored by experts from Samsung and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi as they refine their prototypes and prepare for the next stage of the programme.

For young innovators from smaller cities and towns, that exposure can help bridge an important distance — between identifying a problem and understanding how an idea might eventually become a viable solution or venture.

For Abhinav, the experience has already changed the way he looks at innovation.

“I realised something — trying is the most important thing. No idea is smaller,” he said.

From growing up in Ballia to developing his idea in Varanasi and taking it to a national innovation platform, Abhinav’s journey is still at an early stage.

But that is also the point.

Potential startups do not always begin in established innovation hubs or with fully formed business plans. Sometimes they begin with a young person in a smaller town noticing a problem that others have learned to live with — and deciding to try to solve it.

For Abhinav and Team ItzFOD, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is helping turn that first attempt into something more: a sharper problem statement, an evolving prototype and an idea with the potential to grow much further.

At CES 2025, the C-Lab companies consist of 12 startups from the C-Lab Outside program, which incubates external startups; two startups from C-Lab Inside, which is an internal venture program for employees; and one startup that was spun-off from Samsung. At the event, Samsung expects C-Lab startups to assess global market response, strengthen business feasibility and meet with investors.

“CES is an important opportunity for Korean startups to gain a foothold in the global market and increase brand awareness,” said Pilgyu Jeon, Executive Vice President and Head of the Creativity & Innovation Center at Samsung Electronics. “C-Lab will continue to support startups on the journey to becoming internationally recognized global innovators.”

C-Lab Outside: Twelve Startups That Include AI, IoT and Digital Health

This year, C-Lab will feature 12 startups, including 11 startups directly incubated by Samsung Electronics through the C-Lab Outside program and one startup jointly incubated by Samsung Electronics and the Daegu Center for Creative Economy & Innovation. The 12 startups are as follows:

AI

• DEEP.FINE: An XR solution using Vision-AI and Visual Localization (VL) for precise digital space creation
• Mainspace: An online shopping service based on automated 3D interior design technology
• ENERZAi: A next-generation AI inference optimization engine
• Cochl: An AI-based sound technology that can understand any sound like a human
• Korea Greendata: Revolutionizing energy data analytic platform with AI-driven chatbot integration
• 10kM.ai: An enterprise AI video production solution that can generate, edit, and distribute at scale

 Digital Health

• Riduck: An AI-based aerobic exercise coaching solution based on data from a wearable device
• LabSD: A digital ophthalmoscope manufactured with upcycled smartphones and a teleophthalmology system
• Meditrix: A VR-based neuro-biofeedback motion chair and mobile digital therapeutics

 IoT

• Ghostpass: A remote hands-free authentication solution by storing user biometrics on smartphones
• Pinpoint: Smart building OS that integrates operations and user experiences into a unified solution

 Robot

• Quester: A high-performance hand tracking glove with sensor fusion technology

C-Lab will showcase four local startups from Daegu and Gwangju, Korea, which is a new record achieved through Samsung Electronics’ efforts to promote the local startup ecosystem. Since 2023, Samsung Electronics has expanded the C-Lab Outside program to discover and nurture innovative startups in these regions. The immense potential of these startups has been demonstrated by GhostPass, a startup from C-Lab Outside Gwangju that has won the Best of Innovation Award in Fintech at CES 2025.

“Thanks to the support and coaching of C-Lab Outside, we were able to grow our company in a short period of time,” said Sunkwan Lee, CEO and founder of GhostPass. “We are excited to attend CES 2025 with C-Lab and showcase our solution, which won the CES Best of Innovation Award.”

C-Lab Outside was created in October 2018, and startups selected for the program receive full support — including a business support fund, office workspaces and customized development programs — along with business cooperation from Samsung Electronics.

Two C-Lab Inside Projects From Samsung Employees; One C-Lab Spin-off That Began at Samsung

Since 2016, Samsung has been exhibiting its C-Lab Inside projects at CES to see how the global market responds and to test their business viability.

The C-Lab Inside projects that Samsung Electronics is showcasing at CES have been widely recognized for their innovation, global marketability and completeness — including IoT solutions that provide differentiated experiences in conjunction with Samsung Electronics products, as well as a new conceptual robotics platform. This year’s projects are as follows:

• GreenFollow: Galaxy-enabled autonomous driving solution for electric golf trolley
• Modulero: A modular platform for robotics development

In 2015, Samsung Electronics introduced its C-Lab spin-off program, which allows C-Lab Inside projects with high market potential to be launched as fully-fledged startups. At CES 2025, C-Lab spin-offEdintwill showcase its mobile-based AI online exam proctoring service.

C-Lab Startups Win 12 CES 2025 Innovation Awards

In November 2024, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced the winners of the CES 2025 Innovation Awards, including the award for Best of Innovation. C-Lab startups received one Best of Innovation Award and 11 Innovation Award Honorees.

C-Lab’s products and services that received honors include GhostPass, DEEP.Fine, Mainspace, ENERZAi, Quester and others. The CES 2025 Innovation Award-winning products and services will be displayed separately at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas.

The C-Lab program was created in 2012, and since it was established, Samsung has nurtured a total of 912 startups and projects (506 through C-Lab Outside and 406 through C-Lab Inside) so far. Through “C-Lab Family” program, a unique professional network, all startups of C-Lab can also continue to co-operate with Samsung even after graduating from the C-Lab Outside or spinning off from C-Lab.

¹ Started in December 2012, C-Lab Inside nurtures employees’ innovative ideas while instilling a corporate culture in which creativity is at the fore. 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.