First Two Startups Incubated At LG Labs Leave The Nest

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Taking its open innovation strategy to the next level, LG Electronics is spinning off of two R&D initiatives as independent startups:

• Acanvas, incubated in the LG Silicon Valley Lab, will focus on developing its art streaming platform into a viable business. The art streaming platform contains millions of licensed works of art displayed in cord-free customizable digital frames. Acanvas just started a Kickstarter campaign (http://bit.ly/1rYG7vj) to fund its completion of development. Acanvas will initially target North America with plans to expand to other markets next year.
• Infit & Company was spun out of LG R&D Center in Seoul and is the company behind the Imaging Modular Diagnosis Machine, a medical product that employs the latest technologies to diagnose conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. By using an affordable and safer optical imaging system instead of radiation to peer inside patients, Infit hopes to revolutionize medical care.

Both companies will be managed separately by former LG employees and will be responsible for their own fundraising and strategy, while LG will provide use of the patented technology.

Mohammed Ansari, LG Electronics USA vice president and head of the LG Silicon Valley Lab which incubated Acanvas, said, "These ventures are indicative of the kinds of innovations coming from our labs, and unleashing them as independent startups speaks volumes about LG's commitment to Open Innovation." 

To show its support for the venture and to help alleviate a major risk associated with startups, LG has promised employees who join either of the two new companies that they will have guaranteed positions at LG if they should decide to return within three years.  

LG plans to expand its initiatives to encourage more of the type of thinking that led to the formation of Acanvas and Infit. LG's "Idea Power Plant" is one such program developed to identify and help fund the most promising employee-generated ideas that can be commercialized within five months.

About LG Electronics, Inc.
LG Electronics, Inc. (KSE: 066570.KS) is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances, employing 77,000 people working in 125 locations around the world. With 2015 global sales of USD 48.8 billion (KRW 56.5 trillion), LG comprises four business units ― Home Appliance & Air Solutions, Mobile Communications, Home Entertainment and Vehicle Components ― and is one of the world's leading producers of flat panel TVs, mobile devices, air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators. LG Electronics is a 2016 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. For more news and information on LG Electronics, please visit www.LGnewsroom.com

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SOURCE LG Electronics USA

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