Samsung Electronics opens 3rd C-Lab Outside regional hub

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday opened the third regional center of its C-Lab Outside, a corporate partnership program to nurture local startups outside of Seoul, in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, in search of the country’s next unicorn company valued at over $1 billion.

The company in February opened the first regional C-Lab Outside center in Daegu and the second one in Gwangju in March. With the new center, dubbed C-Lab Outside Gyeongbuk, Samsung Electronics has built a regional startup network that connects major big cities and towns outside of the capital Seoul.

The company has planned to open three regional C-Lab Outside centers this year as part of its efforts to contribute to the reinvigoration of the regional economy through the expansion of the country’s startup ecosystem.

The new center on the campus of Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan City has welcomed five local startups that were chosen by Samsung Electronics after reviewing applications.

They include Hybo, a developer of essential robotic sensor LiDAR; Eastern Gear, a provider of precise robotic gears and power transmission devices; and Eta Electronics, which develops next-generation wireless power transfer technology.

They are in the materials, parts and equipment development sectors, Korea’s new growth drivers that have been strategically nurtured by the Korean government in recent years to reduce the country’s hefty reliance on imports of materials and parts - especially those from China and Japan - and boost the competitiveness of local industries.

North Gyeongsang Province is a perfect place to nurture the materials, parts and equipment startups because 82%, or 1,030, of venture companies in the region are manufacturing-related startups like those new tenants of the new C-Lab Outside center, according to Samsung Electronics.  

Before opening the new C-Lab Outside, Samsung Electronics has unearthed 148 early-stage startups with promising technologies in the region and supported their growth jointly with North Gyeongsang Province’s Creative Economy Innovation Center since August in 2015.  

The startups’ combined sales over the period increased to 300 billion won ($228.9 million) while they attracted 140 billion won in total investment. They have also created 1,700 jobs, contributing to the regional economy.

C-Lab Outside is a sister program of Samsung Electronics’ C-Lab Inside, an in-house startup incubation program launched in 2012. The C-Lab Outside program kicked off in 2018 to help non-Samsung entrepreneurs turn their creative ideas into real businesses.

It offers selected startups office space, up to 100 million won worth of financial aid for product or service development, business consultancy and mentor programs and opportunities to work with Samsung Electronics.

Startups at the C-Lab Outside Gyeongbuk will enjoy similar benefits.

Write to Ye-Rin Choi at rambutan@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.