In its efforts to bring innovative technologies to the forefront in the discussion on building a more sustainable future, LG Electronics presented its selected startups from LG NOVA’s Mission for the Future challenge program on the world stage at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland and the Collision Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Photo Credit: World Economic Forum

The top agenda at this year’s WEF conference was climate change and sustainability.  Three startups from LG NOVA – Eatron Technologies, Duckt by Acton and Faction – participated to share their solutions for greener mobility. During the week, the three presented their business solutions at the Climate Tech Showcase at the Hotel Seehof hosted by the Green Accelerator, sponsored by LG NOVA, and were later selected to pitch at the Altru Institute’s “Best of Davos” event.

(From left to right) Dr. Umut Genc, Cagri Selcuklu and Ain McKendrick

• Eatron is a fast-growing, UK-based automotive software company dedicated to making software-defined electric vehicles (EVs) a reality through edge computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• Faction, founded in 2020, develops driverless EVs that have the speed and performance of conventional cars at a fraction of the cost. Faction uses three-wheel vehicles that are regulated as motorcycles, making them faster to develop and “right-sized” for many urban deliveries and trips.
• Duckt is a smart mobility startup that develops and operates docking, locking and charging infrastructure solutions for micro-mobility vehicles. Duckt is integrated across more than 20 mainstream vehicles, operating both in the United States and the European Union, covering 85 percent of the global market under one charging standard.

“Attending WEF Davos together with the LG NOVA team was an eye-opening experience,” said Dr. Umut Genc, managing director of Eatron Technologies. “Not only did we pitch Eatron’s battery management system technology in front of leading sustainability players, but we also had the chance to have deep and meaningful discussions with the LG NOVA team and partners on further collaboration.”

In addition to supporting startups in the First 50, LG NOVA participated in various keynotes, presentations and panels throughout the week. Patrick Lin, an entrepreneur-in-residence with the LG NOVA team, spoke at the Altru Institute about innovations in the EV sector. Will Barkis, head of ecosystem and grand challenges, presented a keynote at the Climate Technology showcase, while Limor Schafman, director of strategy and operations at LG NOVA, was a panelist on the practical implications for equal access at the House of Balance on the Davos Promenade.

(From left to right) Michael Stirling, Chairman and CEO, Stirling Infrastructure Partners, Barbara-Ann Bernard, Founder and CEO Wincrest Capital, Gerry van der Sluys, CEO Business Creation and Maria Dayton, director of ecosystems for LG NOVA, on a panel on impact investment at the Climate Technology showcase and the House of Balance on the Davos Promenade.

Following the World Economic Forum event, the LG NOVA team headed to Toronto, Canada to join 33,000 attendees at the Collision Conference. The sold-out show was an opportunity for LG NOVA, alongside the LG Electronics Canada, to share the company’s message of innovation through collaboration with businesses to attendees from around the world.

Photo Credit: Collision

With well over 1,200 startups in attendance and new startups exhibiting every day, representatives from LG NOVA, LG Canada and the LG Business Solutions Company had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of attendees, including startups, investors and accelerators, on LG’s innovative initiatives and LG NOVA’s annual Mission for the Future challenge program.

At the event, LG NOVA announced its “Selected 20” startups that have been chosen to move forward in the 2021 Mission for the Future challenge.  The event provided an opportunity for LG NOVA to highlight three representative startups – I-EMS Group, Ltd., LifeNome and YBVR, which represent Energizing Mobility, Connected Health and the Metaverse space, respectfully.

• I-EMS’s software solutions help electricity system operators, power utilities, microgrid developers, net-zero community developers and EV-fleet operators plan and operate their systems with minimum cost and maximum reliability and resiliency.
• A global precision health AI platform for enterprises, LifeNome’s Genomic AI engine leverages biological, physiological and behavioral data to personalized interventions, products and services for global health and wellbeing.
• YBVR’s technology brings live event emotions closer to fans through a personalized, immersive and interactive experience. Its turnkey solution provides the ability to turn live events into immersive streaming of extended reality (XR) video in real time with ultra-low lag across multiple devices.

Both events provided great opportunities for LG and LG NOVA to not only showcase the future through its ongoing startup collaboration but to also create awareness for LG’s vision of innovating to improve the quality of life and efforts toward building a better future.

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