REGIONAL ROUND-UP
AFRICA APAC EUROPE MIDDLE EAST NORTH AMERICA
SEOUL HOSTS CES 2025 ’ S FIRST-EVER CROSS-BORDER START-UP PITCHING COMPETITION
Seoul Business Agency ( SBA ), led by CEO , Hyun Woo Kim , has made waves at CES 2025 by organising the largestever Seoul Integrated Pavilion ( 1,040 square metres or 11,194.5 square feet ) among participating Korean institutions and hosting the first-ever cross-border start-up pitching competition at the event .
CES , one of the world ’ s largest technology exhibition , occurs annually in Las Vegas at the start of January . The Seoul Integrated Pavilion , organised by SBA , was a collaborative effort involving three district offices ( Gangnam-gu , Gwanakgu and Geumcheon-gu ), start-up support organisations ( Seoul Tourism Organisation , Seoul Bio Hub , Seoul AI Hub and Campus Town Enterprise Growth Centre ) and eight major Seoul-based universities , including Konkuk University , Kyung Hee University , Yonsei University and Sogang University . expertise of major countries leading the global entrepreneurial ecosystem , offering a platform for knowledge exchange and deeper collaboration .
The Seoul Innovation Forum was co-organised by SBA ( South Korea ), JETRO ( Japan ), Netherlands Enterprise Agency ( Netherlands ), Swiss Tech ( Switzerland ) and Taiwan Tech Arena ( Taiwan ). With over 150 global media outlets in attendance , the forum reinforced its reputation as a distinguished CES event .
Hyun Woo Kim , CEO of SBA , said : “ The Seoul Innovation Forum has grown beyond a one-time event into a cornerstone for global start-up networking at CES . We will continue to support participating start-ups in achieving sustained success through post-CES initiatives .” x
The Seoul Innovation Forum was the highlight of SBA ’ s CES 2025 initiatives . This groundbreaking programme brought together start-ups from Korea , Japan , Taiwan , Switzerland and the Netherlands for the first cross-border start-up pitching competition in CES history .
The main event was the cross-border IR pitching competition , where start-ups from the five participating nations presented their innovations on the forum stage and in their respective pavilions . E-Magy B . V . from the Netherlands won the Grand Winner award , followed by Japan ’ s BionicM as the First Runner-Up and Korea ’ s Apollon as the Second Runner-Up . Participants expressed gratitude for the opportunity to exchange insights across diverse cultural and technological backgrounds while reaffirming their commitment to global market expansion .
Start-ups participating in the competition also received opportunities to demonstrate their products and technologies to global media , earning praise for effectively showcasing their capabilities . By shifting media attention from major corporations to innovative start-ups , the forum addressed a common challenge at CES and positioned itself as a standout programme .
Each participating nation presented its start-up support programmes in the subsequent cross-country collaboration session . This gathering highlighted the start-up development
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