South Korea proves its tech prowess as more than 100 Korean startups and SMEs present their innovative products and services at the CES 2021 held virtually this time from January 11 to 14. CES 2021 is (Consumer Electronics Show) the world’s largest consumer electronics show held annually in Las Vegas, but has been held online entirely this year because of COVID-19 restrictions. 

Startups, Tech Giants, participate in the virtual event

A dedicated K-Startup pavilion had been set up virtually at the digital platform for CES 2021 supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, in which 97 startups showcased their innovations. Korean startups belonging to 11 innovative technology categories, including 5G and IoT (Internet of Things), advertising, entertainment, contents, automobiles, blockchain, health, homecare, video entertainment, product design and manufacturing, robots and machine intelligence, sports, were introduced at the CES 2021. Besides, the K-Startup section, a Korea pavilion supported by KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency), has also been part of the platform. Samsung Electronics supported 21 startups, and Naver backed 6 startups are also participating at the virtual electronics show. 

Mid and Large companies like LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics held special sessions at the event, attended by several innovators, investors and corporate giants, and media. Overall the number of Korean companies that participated in CES 2021 is 300, which is the second-largest participation after the US. Last year in CES 2020, 200 Korean companies had participated. 

For over 50 years, CES has been a global platform owned by CTA – Consumer Technology Association that invites consumer electronics innovators, brands, customers, thought leaders, and media every year to Las Vegas. This year CTA has converted the event as an all-digital experience where registered participants get a glimpse of cutting-edge technology from around the world. 

Innovative ideas shared on a global platform 

Korean companies and startups have always been a great draw at the CES events, and this year too, at the virtual exhibition, Korean innovations have caught everyone’s attention. 

Korean startup M2S won the innovation award at CES 2021 for its eyesight healthcare solution VROR EYE DR. (Virtual Reality Ophthal Room Eye Doctor). 19 other Korean startups were also honored with the innovation award.

Luple, an AI and IoT, a startup launched in 2017 as an internal venture of Samsung Electronics, was also given the CES innovation award for its product “Olly,” a fist-sized digital lighting system that uses a specific wavelength of light to help people focus on their daily life such as at work or in the bed when they wake up. Korean startup SoftPV’s product, SOFTCELL, has also got the innovation award for the Sustainability, Eco-Design & Smart Energy category. 

Besides awards and recognition, Korean startups introduced many innovative services and products to the CES 2021 participants. Startups like HHS Co. that makes what it describes as “a biosignal processing device module that measures the status of workers in industrial sites in real-time”, MoneyBrain, a synthetic AI solution, making human-like AI-Models for content work, Banco, an interactive golf game startup, Pet Pulse, a pet care startup analysing dog bark in real-time to gauge animal’s emotions, etc also got attention for their innovative technology. 

Korean startup bitsensing developing radar technology introduced its new mini healthcare radar – mini-H at the CES 2021. Samsung C-Lab in house venture startup Food Sommelier team showcased its unique app service that recommends the best combination of food and wine.  

MSI Korea Co., Ltd., one of the world’s largest gaming hardware and computing solution, presented various innovative technologies at CES 2021– Tech for The Future event. “MSI has been working for a long time to provide products with new technologies to the world,” said Sam Chern, vice president of marketing at MSI Global, “And this announcement brings together the best products to be released in 2021. It is an honor to announce a new product line-up designed to take performance to the next level in gaming and creative and business computing.” LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics too unveiled their future technologies, and representatives of the corporate giants held talks and discussions at the CES 2021. 

Though COVID-19 restricted the physical organizing of the event, the all-digital experience of CES 2021 made it possible for the event to have a wider outreach. The show organizers said they hope to deliver a new kind of experience that can be useful to the expected online crowd of 100,000 or more. Definitely, the easy to cruise through interface and registration process helped many users worldwide; check out the future of technology at CES 2021, including the best of Korean startups.  

Also Read, 

• How Korean startup ecosystem succeed with virtual events amidst the COVID-19 crisis in 2020?
• Virtual DIGITAL ECONOMY FORUM 2020 had a grand success with talks about ‘Post-Corona’ future
• KOCCA Launchpad Virtual Demo Day Indonesia 2020 held successfully; 5 enterprising Korean startups showcase technology innovations
• Seoul Global Startup Center (SGSC)’s 2020 Demo Day for global startups goes virtual on December 29th