Ministry of SMEs and Startups Holds Achievement Sharing Meeting
Korean Companies Win 45% of All CES Innovation Awards
Over 60% of Winners Received Ministry Support
Oh Young-joo: "Preparations for Next Year's CES Have Begun... Comprehensive Support Under Review"
Oh Young-joo, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "Startups demonstrated our potential at this CES," adding, "Supporting companies with the best technology and achieving results is the driving force for economic growth."
Minister Oh made these remarks on the 21st at the 'CES 2025 K-Startup Integrated Pavilion Participating Companies and Innovation Award Winners Meeting' held at the Global Startup Center (GSC) in Gangnam, Seoul. At the meeting, more than 50 companies participating in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' 'K-Startup Integrated Pavilion,' including 20 companies that received innovation awards at the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition CES 2025, shared their achievements.
Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is delivering a greeting at the 'CES 2025 K-Startup Integrated Pavilion Participating Companies and Innovation Award Winners Meeting' held on the 21st at the Global Startup Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo
Among them, Su-yeon Yoo, CEO of NationA, who won two innovation awards for the second consecutive year, and Seung-woong Jang, CEO of Tenminds, who won innovation awards for five consecutive years, gave presentations related to their CES experiences and know-how.
CEO Yoo said, "The main purpose for companies to participate in CES is to develop overseas sales channels or network with global venture capitalists (VCs). The Ministry of SMEs and Startups shared information about global VCs in advance, which allowed us to prepare accordingly," adding, "It was also good that the opinion to operate an integrated pavilion at CES led by the Ministry last year was immediately reflected."
CEO Jang emphasized the importance of participating in CES from a marketing perspective. He said, "There is no place where venture companies can receive as much attention as at CES," and added, "I have participated in CES for six consecutive years, and I feel that the market is opening every year."
During a free discussion with Minister Oh, company representatives proposed ▲support for hiring overseas development personnel ▲direct matching with global VCs ▲creating networking opportunities with overseas entrepreneurs. Minister Oh responded, "We have already started preparing for next year's CES," and said, "We will thoroughly consider ways to better support companies after attending CES and in preparation for it." He added, "In addition to such large-scale exhibitions, we will also look for good exhibitions by sector to support the big tech industry, which the government needs to nurture as a growth engine."
Meanwhile, at CES held in Las Vegas, USA, from the 7th to the 10th (local time), Korean companies swept 208 out of a total of 458 innovation awards. Among the award-winning companies, 127 were SMEs and startups, accounting for 85%. Of these, about 86.6%, or 110 companies, participated in Ministry of SMEs and Startups support projects such as startup commercialization, R&D, and investments from the Korea Fund of Funds.
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