Korea Leads with 57 Companies at 'IFA Next'... From Healthcare to AI (Comprehensive)

Samsung Venture C-Lab 'Bresings'
Invention King 'B-Touch' and More

'OLED Waterfall' installed at the LG Electronics booth at the International Consumer Electronics Fair (IFA) 2019. (Photo by LG Electronics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] With just ten days left until the opening of the International Consumer Electronics Fair (IFA) held in Germany, attention is focused on 'IFA NEXT,' a platform for sharing innovative products and ideas from small and medium-sized enterprises aiming for global expansion. Among the participating companies, Korean firms are the most numerous, drawing significant attention. They are actively striving to captivate European consumers on the IFA stage, held on-site for the first time in two years, to expand their global market reach.

According to the IFA organizing committee on the 22nd, 182 companies are participating in IFA NEXT this year. Booths are set up in one section of 'Hall 20' among 35 halls. By continent, Europe has 102 companies, Asia 65, and North America 15. By country, Korea leads with 57 companies, accounting for 31.3%. Following are Germany (38), France (32), Italy (15), and the United States (14). All these companies aspire to capture European consumers through IFA and leap forward as global enterprises.

The most notable domestic small and medium-sized enterprise is Bressings, which has reborn as a spin-off company through Samsung's in-house venture nurturing program 'C-Lab.' As a home-use lung health management solution provider, it recently commercialized the lung muscle strength measurement service 'BULO-H01,' attracting attention in the healthcare industry. It offers personalized breathing exercise support services, aligning well with IFA NEXT's theme of 'digital technology for realizing health, fitness, and wellness.' Another eye-catching company is V-Touch, founded by CEO Kim Seokjung, who gained fame as the 'Patent King' at the Korean Intellectual Property Office last year. Their service allows devices to recognize finger gestures made in mid-air about 3 meters away from the screen, which is highly suitable for the contactless era.

There is also Vernect, the only Korean company recognized as an 'Outstanding Infrastructure Technology Industrialization Case' by the G20 Infrastructure Working Group. As an industrial extended reality (XR) solution company, it has been acknowledged for providing augmented reality (AR) technology, industrial digital transformation (DT), and metaverse solutions, garnering positive responses from the industry. Another notable company is Viewrontech, which develops LiDAR-based autonomous driving solutions. Founded in 2019 by CEO Kim Jaegwang, a former researcher at Hyundai Motor's Autonomous Driving Research Center, the company is well-known for receiving investment from Naver's startup accelerator D2SF in June.

These companies are recognized for possessing proprietary technologies and aligning well with the purpose of the IFA NEXT exhibition, thus drawing significant interest in expanding their European market channels. An industry insider commented, "Although the overall success of IFA 2022, held on-site for the first time in two years due to COVID-19 variables, cannot be guaranteed, it will be a valuable opportunity for these companies."

IFA NEXT is a side event of IFA, launched in 2017, where startups, research institutions, and universities showcase innovative products and ideas. These innovative companies will meet approximately 230,000 visitors and buyers expected to flock to IFA 2022, which features a record high participation of around 1,900 companies. One of the most notable cases of IFA NEXT's impact was Hyundai Motor's participation two years ago. Despite IFA 2020 being held online, Hyundai attracted attention by showcasing urban air mobility (UAM) and personal air vehicles (PAV) at IFA NEXT.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.