LG Uplus said on the 18th it will use "MWC 2026," to be held next month in Barcelona, Spain, to showcase 10 domestic AI startups on the global stage.
The participating corporations will join 4YFN (4 Years From Now), an MWC side event, to discuss potential technology cooperation and business consolidation with global corporations and investment firms. 4YFN discovers about 1,000 promising startups each year and connects them with exchange and investment opportunities, and this year it will also take place at Hall 8 of Fira Gran Via.
The 10 corporations participating this time are AIM Intelligence, Enhance, OptAI, CypherData, Fairytech, ICTK, FortyTwoMaru, IHFB, Turing, and Grovida. LG Uplus will cover participation expenses such as airfare, lodging, and booth rental fees so they can focus on on-site meetings and awards. In particular, five of them are corporations participating in LG Uplus' AI open innovation program Shift and have been collaborating in security, ixi-O, and sLLM fields.
Results are also becoming visible. Among Shift collaborators, AIM Intelligence, Enhance, and OptAI were named final candidates in the 4YFN Awards TOP 20. This year's TOP 20 includes six corporations from Spain, three from the United Kingdom, and three from Korea, and all three from Korea are LG Uplus partner corporations.
LG Uplus plans to use this momentum to expand follow-up support, including joint programs and the creation of joint funds with global partners. Kim Sung-muk, head of investment and partnerships at LG Uplus, said, "We will broaden our cooperation model so domestic AI startups can create practical business opportunities on the global stage."