The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 6th (local time) that it opened the "K-Startup Pavilion" at CES 2026, the world's largest IT and home appliance show, in Las Vegas.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will run the K-Startup Pavilion in Eureka Park, CES 2026's startup-only zone, for four days from the 6th to the 9th, supporting participation by top Korean startups and on-site business matching. Nineteen Korean startup support organizations, including public institutions, local governments, and universities, will operate a unified pavilion under the K-Startup brand in a one-team system.
At this pavilion, 81 startups with innovative technologies will unveil new technologies and products. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will also run various programs during the show, including K-Startup IR pitching, a local VC seminar, and a global startup summit.
Overseas exhibitions such as CES are good opportunities for startups to gauge their potential to enter foreign markets and to find global partners. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) is supporting global market development by dispatching K-Startup delegations to major technology and startup exhibitions by region, including CES.
Last year, the K-Startup Pavilion was operated at five exhibitions—India (Startup Mahakumbh), France (VIVA TECH), Singapore (SWITCH), Saudi Arabia (BIBAN), and the United States (CES)—and more than 200 domestic startups were dispatched. For participating corporations, the pavilion provided exhibition booths as well as close support such as market marketing training, pre-event capacity-building programs, and business matching with local investors and buyers.
This year as well, including CES 2026, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to select representative exhibitions by region and actively support K-Startup's push into new markets. At the K-Startup Pavilion opening ceremony held on the morning of the 6th, No Yong-seok, the second vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "We are proud that K-Startups are receiving a lot of attention at CES, a stage watched by the world," adding, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will actively support innovative K-Startups in using CES as a springboard to advance onto the global stage."
Shelley Berkley, the mayor of Las Vegas who attended the opening ceremony, presented a commendation to the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) for contributing to revitalizing exchanges between Korean startups and the United States by operating the K-Startup Pavilion at CES over the years.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which hosts CES, has so far announced 347 CES Innovation Awards across 35 categories. Of these, Korean corporations received 206 Innovation Awards. Small and midsize enterprises won 150 Innovation Awards, accounting for 72.8% of the total, and among them, venture and startup corporations received 144.
Among the corporations participating in the K-Startup Pavilion, a total of 11 won 12 CES Innovation Awards. Three corporations—Geeksoft (headphones and audio), DeepFusionAI (AI), and CityFive (AI)—received the Best of Innovation, which is awarded to corporations with the most innovative technologies and products in each category.
DeepFusionAI CEO Yoo Seung-hun said, "Winning the CES 2026 AI Best of Innovation is a result of international recognition of our commercialization technology for a 4D (four-dimensional) imaging radar Deep Learning model," adding, "Based on cost-effectiveness and stability in the vehicle and vessel Autonomous Driving fields, we will become a leading Deep Learning-based Autonomous Driving corporation that promotes Korea's technological prowess."