The Seoul Metropolitan Government operated its largest Seoul Pavilion ever at CES 2024, the world’s largest consumer electronics and IT expo. The event took place in Las Vegas, USA, spanning four days from January 9th (Tuesday) to 12th (Friday).
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the opening ceremony in the pavilion on January 9th at 10 AM (local time). His goal was to connect with global companies, startups, governments, and IT experts worldwide, aiming to promote Seoul’s smart city competitiveness and showcase Korean companies on the world stage.
CES stands as the world’s largest ICT expo, organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and held annually in Las Vegas. It attracts global companies leading IT industry trends and startups with cutting-edge technologies, serving as a crucial business platform for investors, technologists, and customers worldwide.
Seoul Metropolitan Government initially joined CES in 2020 with 20 companies and has since operated the <Seoul Pavilion> to support investment promotion and sales for innovative companies based in Seoul. With the increasing number of participating companies and innovation awards granted for their technologies and products, the Seoul Metropolitan Government aims to expand the city-led public-private entrepreneurship ecosystem, facilitating recognition for innovative startups among investors.
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Seoul startups persevered. In the online-only 2021 edition, with a decreased participant count of 15, Seoul Pavilion achieved 2 Innovation Award Winners for the first time in its CES exhibition history. The 2022 edition, featuring an online-physical hybrid format, saw exhibitors increase to 25 with 6 Innovation Award Winners. As CES returned to its traditional format in 2023, exhibitors and Award Winners nearly tripled to 66 and 17, respectively. In 2024, Seoul Pavilion boasted a record-setting 81 exhibiting startups and 18 Innovation Award Winners.
This year’s partners include 13 institutes like Seoul Economic Promotion Agency, Seoul BioHub, Seoul AI Hub, Gwanak-gu, Korea University, Yonsei University, Sogang University, Hanyang University, Chung-Ang University, Konkuk University, Kookmin University, and Kyunghee University.
At CES 2024’s <Seoul Pavilion>, Eureka Park (Tech West), a 670 square-meter national startup exhibition hall, will feature the innovative technologies and products of 81 Seoul-based startups. This showcase is made possible through collaboration with 13 organizations, including Seoul BioHub and Seoul AI Hub, aiming to attract investors from around the world.
Among the 81 companies at the Seoul Pavilion, 18 earned CES 2024 Innovation Awards. TopTable (personalized nutrition) and LordSystem (mobile passport) even secured the prestigious Best of Innovation Award, granted to only 1% of all exhibiting companies. Notable winners in different categories include DNA Corporation, Solive Ventures, MetaImmuneTech, mpWAV, LinkSolutech, Pantomics, BarunBio, Plcoskin, Hurotics, RuahLab, Onoma AI, Nation-A, QsimPlus, SQK, Mirroroid, and Pablo Air.
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) established the CES Innovation Awards in 1976, recognizing innovative products and new technologies for their technical, aesthetic, and creative qualities. The awards, highly respected by global company executives and industry experts, bestowed 36 Best of Innovation and 522 Innovation Awards across 29 categories at this year’s CES.
Mayor Oh attended the opening event of the Seoul Pavilion at 11:00 AM on Thursday, September 9th, accompanied by approximately 100 guests, including CTA Chairman Gary Shapiro and representatives from participating companies. During the visit, Mayor Oh explored the booths of companies within the Seoul Pavilion, engaging with their innovative technologies and products on display. He assured full support to assist innovative startups in expanding their technologies and services to international markets.
The opening ceremony commenced with a video showcasing Seoulites cheering for local startups. It highlighted the symbolic ‘Lighting of the Seoul Startup Innovation Tree,’ representing the growth of startup seeds cultivated by Seoul into global companies.
This year’s <Seoul Pavilion> showcases innovative technology products from Healthcare (31), AI (25), Manufacturing (11), Mobility (7), ESG (4), and Quantum (3) fields from 81 companies. Additionally, the pavilion offers pitching and networking programs tailored for global investors and buyers.
Mayor Oh hosted a luncheon meeting with representatives of innovation award-winning companies, aiming to encourage those with commendable results in innovative technologies and products amid the global investment crisis. He sought firsthand insights into the challenges related to regulations and difficulties in worldwide expansion and commercialization.
Notably, Mayor Oh emphasized the need for the Seoul Metropolitan Government to enhance its support in removing regulatory barriers hindering entrepreneurship in new industries and technology startups. He advocated for Seoul to serve as a delivery platform to the central government, addressing concerns related to the release of regulations.
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