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.

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.

Indoor Smart Garden Solution PLANTBOX

AGWART created ‘PLANTBOX,’ an indoor smart garden solution that enables users to easily grow vegetables and herbs at home. PLANTBOX consists of a smart greenhouse similar to a small refrigerator, seed capsules and an app. Users only need to insert the seed capsule of choice and PLANTBOX automatically detects the species of the seed and optimises its internal environment including lighting, temperature, humidity, air quality and nutrients. Users are also able to monitor and control the environment via the app.

Portable Directional Speaker ‘S-Ray’

CATCH FLOW developed ‘S-Ray,’ a portable directional speaker. Unlike conventional speakers which spread out sound in all directions, S-Ray sends the sound directly forward so only the people in the right direction can hear it. Overcoming technical difficulties from previous researches, CATCH FLOW was able to build a smaller, lighter device – only one tenth the size of a conventional directional speaker. Compared to previous solutions, S-Ray also runs on lower power, without impacting volume or sound quality.

AI-based Research Platform ‘AppBee’

FOR MAKERS built ‘AppBee,’ a research platform that connects clients and users based on mobile usage patterns. AppBee, after users’ opt-in, predicts their characteristics by analysing their mobile usage patterns and automatically matches the users to suitable clients through AI-based algorithms. FOR MAKERS hopes to produce more reliable research results at a lower cost compared to conventional, untargeted surveys to enable creators – start-ups and large corporations alike – to refine products based on user feedback.

The three new start-ups have engaged in business consulting and mentoring programs with field experts for the past three months, to obtain business know-how and prepare for the successful spinoff. They have officially left Samsung Electronics as of May 31, 2018.

Justin Hume, Chief Marketing Officer for Samsung South Africa, says, “It’s always exciting to see what comes out of innovation and such a privilege to be part of new ideas and technology that are set to change the world.”

A number of C-Lab alumni are already proving to be fruitful. 2017 spin-off Monit will be launching its first commercial product ‘Monit by Huggies’ – a baby nappy sensor that distinguishes between urine and faeces and notifies parents – in partnership with Yuhan-Kimberly this June. Monit is also planning to expand to incontinence briefs for adults, for use in hospitals and senior care centres. Linkflow, which develops wearable cameras, saw its value increase 20-fold, after it was spun off in 2016. Linkflow’s FITT360 Security camera has especially been attracting attention from security companies around the world.

“During the past three years, 34 start-ups with 130 employees were spun off from C-Lab and they have hired an additional 170 people from outside of Samsung,” said Jaiil Lee, Vice President and Head of Creativity & Innovation Centre at Samsung Research. “We will continue to give opportunities to our employees to realize their innovative ideas as an entrepreneur in start-ups accelerated by Samsung.”

^{About Samsung Electronics’ C-Lab}

^{Created in December 2012, C-Lab is an in-house idea incubation program that encourages a creative corporate culture and nurtures innovative ideas from Samsung employees. The program supports the development of ideas from all areas of the business. Introduced in 2015, the C-Lab spin-off policy helps Samsung employees who have successfully completed C-Lab projects to launch their own start-ups.}