LG NOVA Collaborates with West Virginia, USA to Discover Promising Startups

CEO Jo Joo-wan Attends Locally to Announce Collaboration
Capital Raising of $700 Million Over Next 5 Years
Impact Investment Addressing Social and Environmental Issues

LG Electronics' North America Innovation Center (LG NOVA) is partnering with the state of West Virginia to foster future industries such as healthcare and clean tech, aiming to revitalize the regional economy. This is a case of collaboration with the state government to establish advanced industries in a region historically based on the coal industry.

On the 3rd (local time), LG NOVA and West Virginia announced a strategic collaboration plan for regional economic revitalization at the Charleston City Culture Center. LG Electronics CEO Jo Joo-wan and North America Innovation Center head Lee Seok-woo attended, along with West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and Economic Development Secretary Mitch Carmichael.

Jo Joo-wan, CEO of LG Electronics / [Photo by LG Electronics]

LG NOVA will build a system for sustainable growth and nurturing of future industry businesses such as healthcare and future/clean tech within West Virginia, and discover new business opportunities. In this process, it will also promote win-win cooperation with the local community. The company explained that this is expected to create new jobs, advance West Virginia’s economic structure, and revitalize the economy.

About $700 million in capital will be raised for this purpose. The capital will be secured through the 'NOVA-West Virginia Investment Fund (NWVIF),' which involves LG NOVA, the West Virginia state government, and external investors, and will be deployed over the next five years.

LG NOVA stated that this collaboration is an impact investment aimed not only at profit but also at solving social and environmental issues through investment. It also explained that, in line with its organizational mission to positively influence the future by fostering innovative businesses, it decided to support the West Virginia government’s efforts for regional economic development and nurturing talented individuals.

CEO Jo said, "We are pleased to participate in West Virginia’s economic development initiative that brings new value to the state and local communities through building innovative new businesses." He added, "LG Electronics is doing its best to provide solutions that impact not only West Virginia but the world in fields such as digital healthcare and clean tech."

LG NOVA and West Virginia State Collaboration Promotional Image / [Image Source=Captured from LG NOVA Homepage]

LG NOVA is an organization newly established in late 2020 in Silicon Valley, USA, to discover new business models and collaborate with industry-leading startups. Since 2021, it has held annual global startup competitions to discover startups with innovative ideas and support their commercialization, seeking new business opportunities. To date, it has selected over 50 startups and is concretizing collaboration possibilities with LG Electronics.

In this process, last year LG NOVA signed an agreement with global venture investment firm Clearbrook to expand the existing NOVA Prime Fund from about $20 million to over $100 million. It also converted the competition period to a year-round continuous operation system. The strategy is to open more opportunities for collaboration with startups and respond quickly to rapidly changing market demands through close cooperation.

Meanwhile, LG NOVA will set up an exhibition hall under the theme "Creating a Brighter Future Together" at CES 2024, the world’s largest home appliance and IT exhibition, held on the 9th (local time) in Las Vegas, USA. About 10 startups will participate in the exhibition across four future industry sectors: digital health, clean tech, future tech, and smart life, introducing future growth engines that LG Electronics is focusing on.

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