ROCKVILLE, Md. — June 2026 — Mixel Studio, Inc. announced that OXR, its spatial presentation platform, won first place at the 2026 TCCNA Global Startup Challenge, receiving the $12,500 first prize after competing against an exceptional group of finalists from across industries. The finalist cohort included AracodeX, Black Penguin Hospitality, D4Z4 Medicine Inc., Nario AI, OXR by Mixel Studio, and Pontis — startups selected for their bold vision, innovation, and potential to shape the future across technology, healthcare, AI, hospitality, immersive experiences, and global entrepreneurship.
The competition brought together entrepreneurs, investors, corporate leaders, students, and innovators from around the world, with distinguished judges and mentors representing venture capital, deep tech, AI, healthcare, federal contracting, and global entrepreneurship. Judges and mentors included Karen Yu 余宛如, President of ITIC, the VC arm of ITRI; David Wu 吳德威, Partner at Acorn Pacific Ventures; Mike Fang, Founder and CIO of Kronyx Capital Partners; Charles Hsu, Senior Research Scientist at MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories and MIT.nano; Jay Wang, Chief Acquisition Officer and federal contracting consultant; Steven Chen, Partner and Chairman at Cyber Seed Investment; and Jason Kuo, Principal at Tech Square Ventures.
For Mixel Studio co-founder and CEO Chiao Lin, the win was both unexpected and deeply meaningful. “It was an extremely hard pitch,” said Lin. “We were pitching alongside two AI companies and two medical research companies, including one company that was already generating millions in revenue. Given the judges’ backgrounds and the strength of the other finalists, I honestly did not expect XR to be the preferred pick, so I was very surprised and grateful for the result.” During the Q&A, David Wu asked how OXR could move from being a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have.” Lin responded by pointing to the way new categories often emerge before customers know how to ask for them: “If you asked someone 100 years ago what they wanted, they might have asked for the fastest horse in the world — because they did not yet know the car existed.”
OXR is designed to make spatial content as easy to present as slides and as seamless to run as a live meeting. The platform allows users to launch spatial sessions in seconds, organize 3D scenes like presentations, embed multimedia, and synchronize content across browsers, mobile devices, and XR headsets. Instead of requiring teams to build one-off immersive applications, OXR gives presenters a reusable platform for guiding audiences through 3D ideas, product demos, educational content, and collaborative spatial experiences.
The recognition also reflects Lin’s personal journey as a Taiwanese founder building in the United States. Originally from Taiwan, Lin self-funded much of his path to graduate school with the scholarship support from the University of Michigan, where he developed the foundation for Mixel Studio and OXR. After graduation, he joined the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of Greater Detroit and now serves as president of its junior chamber, continuing to support local Taiwanese community in North America. At the TCCNA Gala, Karen Yu connected with Lin and shared that she had ranked OXR first on her scorecard, expressing her hope to stay connected and see OXR continue to mature and flourish.
Winning the TCCNA Global Startup Challenge marks another milestone for Mixel Studio as it brings OXR to broader markets across education, enterprise, industrial product demos, and immersive communication. “We are grateful to TCCNA, the judges, mentors, and the Taiwanese business community for creating a global stage for founders like us.” said Lin.
Mixel Studio, Inc. is a Michigan-based XR company building OXR, a spatial presentation platform that helps teams create, manage, and present immersive 3D content across web browsers, mobile devices, XR headsets, and future AR glasses. OXR is designed to make spatial communication accessible, scalable, and easy to deploy.
