[CES2022] From Health, Mobility to Metaverse... LG Collaborates with Global Startups

On the 4th (local time), Lee Seok-woo, head of LG Electronics North America Innovation Center, is presenting at the LG NOVA press conference held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, USA. (Photo by LG Electronics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] LG Electronics' Silicon Valley innovation organization, LG NOVA (North America Innovation Center), introduced collaboration projects with startups at the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition 'CES 2022' and expressed its intention to cooperate with more startups in future technology areas such as connected health, electric vehicles, metaverse, and smart homes.

On the 4th (local time), LG NOVA announced that it provided over $1 million in initial funding to startups selected in last year's Proto Challenge and that LG is collaborating with them. LG NOVA is an organization established in Silicon Valley last year by LG Electronics to strengthen cooperation with startups and discover new businesses. It was officially upgraded to an organization under the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) division's North America Innovation Center last year.

To further strengthen cooperation with startups, LG Electronics held the global challenge competition 'Mission for the Future' in September last year following the preliminary Proto Challenge. The competition is scheduled to run for nine months. Startups selected with business proposals within 3 to 6 months after the competition's launch are expected to be on the final review list in March this year, and companies selected in the Proto Challenge are also expected to be included in this list starting January. Companies advancing to the final round of the competition will receive up to $20 million in support.

At CES 2022, LG NOVA disclosed some of the collaboration details with startups selected in the first round. With connected health company XR Health, efforts are underway to pilot a virtual reality therapy room providing telemedicine services usable in U.S. nursing homes and similar facilities. U.S. mobile electric vehicle charging service provider SparkCharge is collaborating with LG Electronics' Internet of Things (IoT) platform, LG Connected Home, to jointly develop a home IoT service that allows customers to manage electric vehicle charging amounts.

LG NOVA introduced that it is piloting an artificial intelligence (AI) health assistant service using LG Smart TVs in collaboration with health-related startup MayaMD, and the startup 'I3M' is working with LG NOVA to develop the first hyper-realistic virtual travel experience. In addition, several startups working in fields aligned with LG's innovation philosophy, such as mobility, IoT, and metaverse, were introduced.

Lee Seok-woo, head of LG NOVA Center, said, "There is no better place than CES, the world's most influential technology event, to celebrate the startup and entrepreneur community seeking solutions to the world's most urgent issues," adding, "As the LG NOVA program progresses, we will be able to use the power of collaboration to ignite innovation across society."

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