Sony puts 7 startups in CEATEC 2026 spotlight

Sony's CEATEC presence has shifted from showing its own in-house ideas to presenting a pipeline of outside companies it has backed. Last year's exhibit, themed "Beyond the Boundaries," centered on the Sony Acceleration Platform and included REON POCKET PRO from Sony's internal startup program; this year the emphasis moved to startup investment and business creation, with AI characters and microsurgery robots on display.

The structure behind that shift is the Sony Innovation Fund, set up in 2016 as Sony's corporate venture arm. Furukawa said some SIF funds include outside investors such as financial institutions and other companies, unlike conventional corporate venture funds backed only by the parent. He also stressed that Sony's aim goes beyond financial return, using collaboration with startups to reach technology and business opportunities its own teams might not have produced.

The two Sony-born companies on show illustrate the internal path. Qoly Corporation, a spinoff from Sony's incubation program, demonstrated a prototype developed about three years ago in which a 10mm console movement becomes 1mm at the instrument, with the surgeon fully in control rather than the robot acting autonomously.