A promotional event for Korean venture companies and startups is held on Jan. 6, the second day of CES 2023, at the Venetian Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. (Yonhap News)

By Margareth Theresia

A record number of Korean venture companies and startups received CES Innovation Awards at CES 2023, the world's largest exhibition of home appliances and information technology.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups on Jan. 10 said 134 domestic companies including 111 venture companies and startups received the honors at this year's CES that ran from Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas.

Last year saw 71 from Korea getting the awards.

Of the 111 honorees, 87 took part in startup support projects sponsored by the ministry like the Tech Incubator Program for Startup (TIPS) and others for commercial support. TIPS is a joint endeavor between the government and private sector to find and develop startups, with the public sector backing research and development, commercialization and overseas marketing for startups that receive pre-investment from private operators.  

A combined 121 products in 19 sectors won the awards, including 32 in digital health and 25 in software and mobile apps.

Among all participating companies, 20 received the CES Best of Innovation Award for the most cutting-edge technology and products. Nine Korean companies were among the 20 including a record five venture companies and startups: Zkrypto, Dot, Microsystems, Verses and Graphene Square. 

Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young said, "Our startups have continued to perform well at CES, and their best-ever performance at this year's CES was thanks to the innovative efforts of Korean companies and government support," adding, "This means that the ecosystem for domestic venture companies and startups has matured both quantitatively and qualitatively."

The CES Innovation Awards are given by the Consumer Technology Association of the U.S. to honor innovative technologies and products that will lead the world.

At this year's CES, the awards went to 609 products from 434 companies in 28 sectors like digital health, smart cities and robotics.

margareth@korea.kr