We aim to take the first step into the U.S. and Japan markets by participating in CES 2026. If until last year we focused on expanding services in the Korean market, starting this year our goal is to deliver results in the global market.
On Jan. 8 (local time), StudioLab co-founder and chief operating officer Lee Jae-young met with ChosunBiz on-site at CES 2026, the world's largest IT and home appliance exhibition held in Las Vegas, and said this. Lee started StudioLab with CEO Gam Sung-hoon, whom Lee met at Samsung Electronics, through the in-house startup incubation program C-Lab. After confirming the potential for business expansion, the two left Samsung Electronics in May 2021 and ramped up the business. Since then, they have drawn industry attention by building a unique track record of entering the "commerce" market based on artificial intelligence (AI) and Robotics technologies.
StudioLab's flagship products are "Jency," which creates a detailed product page about 30 seconds after a product photo is uploaded, and the photographer robot "Jency PB." The company is generating revenue by supplying "Jency Studio," an online product sales content production solution that organically connects the two products, to the market. When a robot equipped with physical AI technology takes product photos, Generative AI creates an "online sales page" with detailed information based on them.
Lee said, We automated the steps from photo shooting to creating a product detail page needed to sell items on an online mall, and Our strength is that as long as there is a product, we can drastically shorten the time needed until actual online sales occur while producing highly polished results.
Although StudioLab was founded less than five years ago, this year marks its third CES Innovation Award. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which hosts CES, evaluates entries each year and gives Innovation Awards to products that will change the world. Among the Innovation Awards, products with particularly outstanding technology receive the Best of Innovation Award.
At CES 2026, about 4,100 corporations participated, unveiling new products and technologies. Only 452 products among them received Innovation Awards. In terms of corporations, that is only 416. The Best of Innovation honor is granted to only one or two products in each of 35 categories. This year, 43 products received Best of Innovation awards. StudioLab was the only company to win Best of Innovation in the Spatial Computing category at CES 2026. It also won a Best of Innovation award in the AI category at CES 2024 and an Innovation Award in the Robotics category last year.
Building on this technological edge, StudioLab is rapidly expanding its business. Revenue in 2023 rose 6.5 times from the previous year. In 2024, revenue increased a further 4.5 times, quickly scaling the business. In late 2024, the company secured a pre-A investment of about 3.3 billion won, with Naver D2SF, Dcamp and the Seoul Business Agency participating. Lee said, Our earlier CES appearances were primarily to strengthen the fundamentals of the business, but through this year's event our goal was to build a bridgehead for global expansion, and We wanted to showcase Korea's technological prowess to the world through CES 2026.
Below is a Q&A with Lee.
- What problem is StudioLab trying to solve?
To sell products on an online mall, labor-intensive work is required, from photo shoots to creating product detail pages. While preparing to launch, we confirmed that brands feel burdened by the expense, time and complex processes involved in creating online content. We saw the process of getting a product to actual online sales as a high-cost, low-efficiency market driven by manual work, and we set out to solve it.
- What do you think enabled you to win for a third straight year, including this year's Best of Innovation Award?
In the Innovation Award evaluation process, we received high marks for integrating software (SW) and hardware (HW) technologies to improve efficiency in the commerce industry. Despite automating the entire process from shooting to detail page creation, it was also seen as a strength that our highly complete service produces high-quality results. The fact that we built a service that can be used repeatedly through AI to generate subscription revenue, and that shooting with Robotics technology goes beyond simply photographing products to consider artistic aspects and improve user experience, also had a positive impact. I would say the secret to winning Innovation Awards for three consecutive years is our continued improvement of the service using AI and Robotics technologies.
- What business outcomes do you expect from participating in CES 2026?
We want to formally signal our entry into the U.S. and Japan markets. If last year's CES served as a springboard to grow our domestic business, through this year's event we aimed to build a bridgehead for entry into the global market. We scheduled our time with a focus on finding overseas sales partners and securing local partners. We achieved some results and plan to discuss details after returning.
- What was difficult about developing "Jency Studio"?
The hardest part was delivering a service that provides highly complete results. Jency Studio's main customers are fashion brands and online sellers. It was not easy to fill in the details so that AI could generate results that meet customers' expectations. We have now raised service quality to a level that satisfies the vast majority of customers.
- If incorrect information comes out as the result, it could lead to accidents.
Jency does not infer product information. Jency PB also does not infringe portrait rights. For detail pages, we use only layouts that StudioLab created and directly holds the copyright to. We devoted significant time to building a solution that allows customers to be free from copyright issues.
- Physical AI drew attention at CES 2026. What is your outlook for this market?
Using physical AI technology enables the natural movements of robots. The mere fact that it can improve the completeness of various tasks greatly increases its potential uses, which could transform many areas of industry and daily life.
- Any advice for junior founders?
Starting a tech startup requires implementing and advancing the technology. You also need to verify whether the technology can actually work in the market. In what is called the AI era, I believe there are virtually no constraints on this process. If you are considering starting up, define what you will do right now and move straight to execution.