CES 2026 Opens 'K-Startup Integrated Pavilion' with Participation from 19 Organizations and 81 Startups

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has opened the ‘K-Startup Integrated Pavilion’ at CES 2026. From January 6 to 9 (local time), the Ministry is operating the integrated pavilion at the Eureka Park (a dedicated area for startups) in Las Vegas. A total of 19 startup support organizations, including the Startup Promotion Agency, local governments, and universities, are participating as a unified team under the ‘K-Startup’ brand, showcasing technologies and products from 81 startups. During the exhibition, K-Startup IR pitching sessions, local VC seminars, and a global startup summit will also take place. Among the participating companies in the integrated pavilion, 11 firms received a total of 12 innovation awards. Three companies—Geeksloft (headphones and audio), Deep Fusion AI (AI), and City Five (AI)—each won the Best of Innovation award in their respective categories. Geeksloft was recognized for its hands-free portable media hub headphones, Deep Fusion AI for its radar-dedicated autonomous driving recognition solution, and City Five for its real-time LMM inference support wearable AI interface. Out of the 347 CES innovation awards announced by the CTA, 206 were won by Korean companies. Among them, the small and medium-sized enterprises received 150 awards (72.8%), while venture and startup companies accounted for 144. The opening ceremony on January 6 was attended by Deputy Minister of SMEs and Startups Noh Yong-seok. Deputy Minister Noh expressed pride in the attention that K-startups are receiving on the global stage, stating, “We will actively support innovative K-startups to use CES as a launchpad to advance into the global market.” Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley presented an award to the Startup Promotion Agency for its contributions to enhancing exchanges between Korean startups and the United States. Yoo Seung-hoon, CEO of Deep Fusion AI, said, “Winning the Best of Innovation award in the AI category at CES 2026 is a testament to our unique commercialization technology for the 4D imaging radar deep learning model,” and added, “Based on the cost-effectiveness and stability of vehicle and ship autonomous driving, we aim to become a leading company in the deep learning-based autonomous driving sector.” Last year, the Ministry operated the K-Startup integrated pavilion at five major exhibitions in India, France, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, dispatching over 200 startups. This year, it plans to select representative exhibitions by region to support startups in exploring new markets.