As CES 2025 started in Las Vegas, Samsung’s C-Lab exhibition caught the eye of visitors from all over the world. C-Lab is Samsung’s program that helps startups grow in Korea and expand globally by showcasing their new ideas at big events like CES.
At CES 2025, the C-Lab exhibition highlighted 15 startups and projects. This included 12 from C-Lab Outside, which supports external startups, two from C-Lab Inside, Samsung’s program for employee ideas, and one C-Lab Spin-Off startup that grew out of the C-Lab Inside program.
Several of these startups received CES Innovation Awards from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) for their creativity and technological advancements. Samsung Newsroom spoke with three award winners, Pinpoint (smart city technology), Quester (XR technology), and GhostPass (security/fintech technology), to learn more about their innovative work.
Pinpoint: First Step Toward Global Recognition With C-Lab
Samsung’s C-Lab is helping new startups shine on the global stage. Through the C-Lab Outside program, Samsung gives these startups a chance to take part in major events like CES. They also provide help with exhibition preparations and tailored advice for applying for the CES Innovation Award.
Pinpoint, a participant in C-Lab Outside for 2024, made its global debut at the C-Lab exhibition during CES 2025. The startup won an Innovation Award in the Smart Cities category for its management solution that uses IoT for building operations.
Pinpoint’s building solution is a smart system that improves efficiency for building operators while offering a personalized experience for users. Operators can control all resources in the building, and users can easily access services like reservations, parking, robot delivery, and more through 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 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
Samsung’s C-Lab helps local startups grow. Besides Seoul, C-Lab Outside has programs in Daegu, Gwangju, and Gyeongbuk (Gyeongsan) to support great startups.
Quester, which developed through C-Lab Outside Daegu in 2024, showed off its hand-tracking glove at CES 2025. This was even more exciting as it won an Innovation Award in the XR Technologies & Accessories category.
Quester’s glove can identify and track hand movements accurately. To improve upon existing technologies that can be affected by outside conditions, Quester uses a method called sensor fusion. This combines different sensors to ensure stable performance and can be used in areas like virtual content, robotics, and motion capture.
At CES 2025, Quester showcased its technology and future plans using prototypes. This allowed them to not only test their tech but also gather important feedback from potential clients, which they will use to develop new features that meet client needs.
“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
Samsung continues to support the growth of C-Lab graduates. Even after they finish their programs, these startups gain from partnerships, investments, and collaboration opportunities with Samsung, which helps them compete better in the global market.
GhostPass, part of C-Lab Outside in 2023, is showing its biometric authentication technology at the C-Lab exhibition for the second year in a row. GhostPass has achieved recognition at CES, winning an Innovation Award in the Smart Cities category last year and the Best of Innovation Award in the FinTech category this year.
GhostPass’ biometric authentication solution uses two-factor authentication. This means it keeps biometric information, like facial and iris data, only on the user’s smartphone instead of on a server or another device. It also allows remote authentication from other devices. This enhances security and lets users control their biometric information directly on their phones. Additionally, this solution is expected to help businesses save money by cutting out the need for server storage.
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.”
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