Samsung C&T kicks off proof-of-concept collaboration with 6 startups

Samsung C&T's construction division held a kickoff meeting Wednesday to launch proof-of-concept collaboration under its open innovation program, 2026 Futurescape, the company announced Thursday.

The 2026 Futurescape program, organized by Samsung C&T in partnership with the Seoul Business Agency, aims to identify startups with innovative technologies and ideas and support them through market validation and business cooperation.

Samsung C&T selected six startups this year and plans to work with them to verify technologies and explore joint commercialization opportunities.

The kickoff meeting brought together representatives from Samsung C&T and six startup teams pursuing proof-of-concept projects across five areas — home platforms, wellness, senior living, robot solutions and next-generation edutech. Participants shared the goals and action plans for each project. A demo event to present project results and promote the selected companies is scheduled for October.

Hyeong Si-won, senior vice president and head of Samsung C&T's DxP Business Strategy Team, said the kickoff meeting marks the official starting point of full-scale collaboration with the startups. "We plan to share project goals and proof-of-concept plans, use technology verification to drive new changes in our existing business, and actively support the development of joint business models over the long term," he said.

Samsung C&T's Futurescape open innovation program selects startups with innovative technologies and ideas every year. From 2023 through 2025, the company chose a total of 21 companies and is pursuing joint commercialization with those where strategic synergies have been confirmed.

The newly selected companies will receive opportunities for business model validation, joint technology development and business cooperation based on their work with Samsung C&T. They will also receive practical scale-up support, including cloud service vouchers from major providers such as Amazon Web Services, Naver and Megazone, as well as commercialization grants of up to 50 million won ($32,800).

Meanwhile, last year's cohort — including startups Easytask, Lifeon Korea, Hi, Ppong, Glorang and Hilocal — presented their proof-of-concept results achieved through collaboration with Samsung C&T.