Minister Lee Young Visits CES: "We Will Support the Birth of Global Unicorns"

First Step of the New Year at US CES
Over 500 Korean Companies Participate
Achievements Including CES Innovation Awards

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, visited the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to encourage our digital and deep-tech companies and explore opportunities for K-startups to expand globally.

As his first activity of the new year, Minister Lee chose CES held in Las Vegas, USA. CES is the largest consumer electronics exhibition in the world, attended annually by innovative companies from around the globe. This year, more than 3,100 companies from 173 countries gathered, with an estimated participation of over 500 Korean companies.

On the 5th, Minister Lee began his schedule by encouraging companies that received CES Innovation Awards at the startup exhibition hall (Eureka Park). The CES Innovation Award is given by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) to innovative technologies and products in 27 exhibition categories. The number of CES Innovation Awards won by K-startups has increased annually, with 21 in 2021, 60 last year, and 83 this year.

Minister Lee took the lead in economic diplomacy by visiting innovation company booths, demonstrating products, and introducing them to visitors. That evening, he hosted a K-venture and startup encouragement dinner, inviting about 10 outstanding startups from around the world.

Minister Lee said, "CES is the optimal stage for Korean startups to stand out in the global market," adding, "This year, K-startups achieved the highest number of CES Innovation Awards ever, which shows the elevated status of Korean startups."

He stated, "We will focus our policy capabilities on supporting scale-up and globalization through discovering and supporting promising startups in new industries, expanding global funds, and resolving regulations, so that our digital and deep-tech companies can grow into global unicorns dominating the world market."

On the 6th, Minister Lee plans to accelerate efforts to establish a foothold for the global expansion of ventures and startups. To attract overseas capital into the domestic startup ecosystem, he will hold meetings with overseas corporate venture capitals (CVCs) such as Qualcomm Ventures to introduce global funds and discuss investment plans in Korea and areas of cooperation interest.

Subsequently, he will communicate with Korean venture capitals (VCs) such as Primer Saz? Partners through meetings to discuss support measures for overseas Korean companies and difficulties faced by Korean VCs in their investment activities.

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