At CES 2026, NovaWave Capital and LG Electronics help high-growth AI companies scale with launch of new venture studio

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is always known as a place for tech announcements for the year ahead.

At CES 2026 this week, companies have been launching a range of new products and sharing strategic plans that give us a window into what course the tech industry will take on the road ahead. 

One of these groundbreaking announcements has come from Silicon Valley-based NovaWave Capital, where its plans to strengthen the public-private capital base supporting innovation across the United States were announced, alongside the launch of an Arizona-based venture studio in collaboration with the Arizona Commerce Authority.

Boosting innovation in Arizona and the US 

As one of the nation’s youngest and fastest-growing states, Arizona’s pioneering spirit encourages its reputation as a hub for testing and scaling new technologies. The state’s technology and innovation industry is rapidly growing and many top companies call Arizona home.

Now, NovaWave Capital, the investment arm of LG Electronics, is teaming up with the Arizona Commerce Authority to launch a venture studio focused on artificial intelligence startups in four key business sectors.

“WaveX” AI venture studio will support new ventures across the state in healthcare, energy, sports and media.

“With our collaborative business environment, world-class talent, and advanced technology ecosystem, Arizona offers unparalleled opportunities for startups and early-stage companies to scale and succeed,” said Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “We are excited to partner with NovaWave Capital on the creation of a new AI venture studio and venture fund to support Arizona-based companies.”

This follows on from a year of record-breaking growth for Arizona. In 2025, the state received over $34 billion in new investment, nearly 28,000 projected new jobs, and major wins across semiconductors, aerospace, AI, broadband, and more. 

The addition of WaveX will boost Arizona’s innovation potential to new heights in 2026. 

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said, “Arizona is proud to welcome NovaWave Capital’s venture studio to our state, a powerful addition to our thriving innovation ecosystem. This prominent initiative reflects Arizona’s growing global importance in advanced technologies and our commitment to fostering next-gen innovations across artificial intelligence, energy, advanced manufacturing, and more.”

A collaborative network for innovation 

By creating WaveX in Arizona, NovaWave Capital will establish an important base for innovation. However, this isn’t designed to be a standalone initiative.

Complementing the Arizona projects are LG NOVA’s hubs in West Virginia and Silicon Valley in addition to NovaWave Capital’s presence in the Gulf region. 

The result is a cross-regional network for technology innovation that accelerates the pace of development and ensures capital is applied in areas of high impact. To support this, NovaWave Capital also announced during CES 2026 that it is welcoming incoming investors AZ Venture Capital Inc. and Sunny Day Sports to the NovaWave Fund generation. 

The goal is to further strengthen the public-private capital base supporting innovation across the United States.

LG NOVA scales high-growth AI companies 

NovaWave Capital was created to support businesses under LG Electronics’ North America Innovation Center, known as LG NOVA. Here, the team is focused on helping to scale high-growth AI companies in the energy, health and business sectors with the goal of delivering measurable, economic and industrial impact. 

“Our collaboration with AZ Venture Capital Inc., Sunny Day Sports and the Arizona Commerce Authority is a testament to the vision shared by our investors and regional partners across the public and private spectrum to build and scale AI-first companies in collaboration with LG NOVA,” said NovaWave Capital’s Founding Managing Partner, ‘Tonton’ Ali Diallo (article’s featured photo). 

 “By bridging Silicon Valley innovation with the fast-growing ecosystems of regional and international markets, we are seeking to build the next generation of AI, energy and health companies that will accelerate America’s innovation economy,” he continued. 

NovaWave Capital is supported by a diverse base of investors across the corporate, institutional and government sectors to provide portfolio companies with strategic collaboration with LG NOVA, enabling commercialization pathways in the U.S. and globally, access to incubation and venture-building resources through WaveX to support rapid product development, regional acceleration partnerships across West Virginia, Nevada and Arizona. 

Portfolio companies can also access deep-sector expertise in AI, advanced energy systems, digital health and applied enterprise innovation, and global commercial expansion opportunities and government and industry collaborations across Europe and the Gulf Region.