Samsung funded startups win 17 CES 2026 Innovation Awards

Being a technology powerhouse, Samsung funds several startups every year since 2016. Some of those startups are founded by Samsung employees and are funded and incubated directly inside Samsung Electronics via its C-Lab Inside program, while those created by non-Samsung employees are funded through the C-Lab Outside program.

Some of those startups have collectively received a total of 17 CES 2026 Innovation Awards this year.

Samsung has announced that it will showcase new startups at CES 2026. These startups have been innovating across a wide range of fields, including AI, digital health, and robotics. Their products will be showcased at the dedicated C-Lab exhibition area in Eureka Park at Venetian Expo, which is the designated startup zone of CES.

This year, there will be 15 startups, including eight that were directly incubated by Samsung's C-Lab Outside program, four from Samsung Financial C-Lab Outside, two from Samsung's C-Lab program, and one jointly funded by Samsung and Daegu Creative Economy Innovation Center.

Since 2023, Samsung has expanded the C-Lab Outside program to Daegu and Gwangju cities, as well as the Gyeongbuk province, in South Korea. It identifies, funds, and helps promising startups to strengthen the technology ecosystem in the country. It offers them workspace, consulting based on their stage, and even opportunities to collaborate with Samsung and its affiliate companies.

At CES 2026, seven startups from these regions are participating, marking the most number of startups ever at the expo.

AunionAI: It is a web-based AI solution for automated multilingual dubbing and subtitles with expressive voices and sound effects.

ChronoMix: It is an AI solution for object-based video composition.

Datumo: It is a cyber risk modeling program to quantify and reduce the financial impact of cyberattacks.

Deepscent: It has developed an AI-powered digital scent solution.

Elevenliter: It has created an AI-powered diagnostics for progressive diseases in pets.

EZ Reco: It is a generative AI platform that makes electronics recommendations based on expert knowledge.

Pillsang: Real-time phishing detection solution using on-device AI to reduce frauds and scams.

Repla: It has developed a device called Puri-Checker, which analyzes plastic composition ratios. It has received the CES 2026 Innovation Award.

Selectstar: Copyright-cleared datasets and an all-in-one AI evaluation platform.

Stress Solution: It is an AI-based personalized mental care sound creation solution.

Univa: It is an on-device multimodal large language model solution.

WINNING.I: It is a next-generation identity verification (eKYC) powered by simultaneous fingerprint and face biometrics.

10kM.ai: An enterprise AI-based video production solution that can generate, edit, and monetize videos.

Two Samsung-funded startups, MangoSlab and StudioLab, were later spun off as independent startups. They have both won CES 2026 Innovation Awards.

Asif Iqbal Shaik - Senior Editor

[email protected]

First Samsung device: T100

Asif is a computer engineer turned technology journalist. He has been using Samsung phones since 2004, and his current smartphone is the Galaxy S23 Ultra. He loves headphones, mechanical keyboards, and PC hardware. When not writing about technology, he likes watching crime and science fiction movies and TV shows.

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