LG Develop New Business Ventures by Selecting Finalists in its First ‘Future Mission’ Challenge

Chosen 'Mission for the Future' Companies and LG to Jointly Pursue Innovative Solutions for Digital Health, the Metaverse and Electric Mobility.

The LG Electronics North American Innovation Center, LG NOVA, has selected the Finalist companies for its Mission for the Future global challenge program. Representing multiple potential business paths in three industries, the companies will be working with the LG NOVA team to collaborate on new business ventures, alongside continuing to grow and scale their companies, qualifying for potential investment from LG and other investors within LG NOVA ecosystem to develop impactful solutions for people, communities and the planet.

"This inaugural year of our challenge demonstrated how effective and powerful collaboration between technology startups and established corporations can help accelerate the innovation process," said LG Electronics Senior Vice President of Innovation Dr. Sokwoo Rhee and head of LG NOVA. "Congratulations to the Finalists and all the companies that participated in the Mission for the Future challenge. We look forward to the journey with these companies innovating for a brighter, more technologically advanced future."

The finalists were selected from an initial pool of approximately 1,300 applicants. They secured the top spot after working closely with the LG NOVA Entrepreneur-In-Residence team over a six- to nine-month period to build and test the proposals. Throughout the process, the companies had opportunities to meet with LG business teams and other investors within the LG NOVA ecosystem. Finalists were presented to LG Electronics Global CEO William Cho.

This unique challenge program, which has the opportunity to diversify and expand LG's technology portfolio, prioritizes innovating for a better life across key impact industries, according to Rhee. "These incredible companies hold the potential of changing the world, and LG looks forward to collaborating with them to leverage innovation to impact society in meaningful ways," he said.

With this selection of companies, LG NOVA will build new businesses in Digital Health, Electric Mobility and the Metaverse and pursue multiple paths to deliver new services and solutions that will help us move forward faster into the future.

Digital Health – With digital health capabilities key to enabling the delivery of healthcare to diverse and disparate communities, LG NOVA is working to expand and scale greater access to healthcare and personal health services.

• Digbi Health is a digital care platform to prevent and reverse chronic metabolic, digestive and mental health conditions using gut microbiome insight, genetics, AI and food-as-medicine.  Together LG and Digbi will work to make care globally accessible at home and the office, and to advance cure. 
• LifeNome is a B2B2C precision health platform powered by genomics and AI, offering personalized health and well-being solutions to the world's leading enterprises. LG and LifeNome plan to bring to market the world's first precision maternal and family health platform, supporting pregnant individuals 24/7 from conception all the way to the early stages of a child's life.
• Mindset Medical is a sensor-based technology platform that can use a camera in patient-owned devices to virtually capture health and biological readings to assist doctors in enhancing medical diagnosis and treatment effectiveness. Expanding upon new services available to doctors and providers, LG's work with Mindset Medical is expected to make it easier for medical providers to understand patient health over time or during live virtual doctor visits.
• XRHealth develops virtual treatment rooms, integrating immersive VR/AR technology, licensed clinicians and real-time data analytics on one platform, providing a comprehensive therapeutic care solution for patients through the continuum of care, from the hospital to the patient's home. LG and XRHealth will continue to grow the service offering to deliver more insights to clinicians and enable more precise personalized care.

Electric Mobility – With LG's commitment to sustainability as an organization, LG NOVA is working to pursue new opportunities to expand access to electric vehicle (EV) and electric mobility solutions by enabling more businesses to leverage their infrastructure to provide EV services.

• Driivz empowers major EV service providers with an end-to-end EV charging and smart energy management software platform.  LG and Driivz will work together to enable the hospitality industry across the United States to offer EV charging-as-a-service, while optimizing their EV charging operations and providing their customers with an exceptional EV charging experience.
• I-EMS Solutions, Ltd. uses innovative AI and blockchain-based distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) and transactive energy software platforms to enable power optimization across smart cities, smart homes, and e-mobility. By working with I-EMS, LG will help modernize the electricity grid and optimize energy management to deliver better power management solutions for the market.
• SparkCharge offers an affordable and convenient way for electric vehicle owners to charge their EVs without a direct-access charger at home or on the road. LG and SparkCharge plan to work together to deliver turnkey EV solutions for businesses to create a stream of revenue from their parking spaces.

The Metaverse – The Metaverse will bring greater capabilities that will change how we engage across the digital space in the future. LG is looking to broaden its role and explore new services and applications for enterprises that leverage the capabilities of the Metaverse.

• iQ3 Connect provides immersive 3D workspace technology to enable distributed teams to cost-effectively work, collaborate and train from anywhere, on any AR, VR, or 2D device. LG will work with iQ3 Connect to deploy immersive training and realtime collaborative workspace solutions for enterprises.
• NeuroTrainer is a brain training and optimization platform deployed in VR to create immersive environments and training protocols that utilizes the scientific principles of neuroplasticity to enhance focus and cognitive performance. Expanding upon iQ3 capabilities, LG and NeuroTrainer will work together to add platform capabilities and enhancements designed to further refine NeuroTrainer as a powerful tool for corporate wellness and mental resiliency.

LG NOVA's second annual Mission for The Future (2022) is now open for submissions. Deadline to submit is Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Please visit www.lgnova.com/mission22 for more information on how to submit new ideas to LG NOVA.

September 08, 2022