Korea's Startups Poised for a Landmark Season as COMEUP 2025 and CES 2026 Draw Near

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Korea is preparing for a defining season in global innovation, as Seoul readies for COMEUP 2025—hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups—and Korean entrepreneurs mark final preparations for their annual journey to Las Vegas for CES 2026. The two stages signal the growing confidence of a startup community that has become one of the most visible, awarded, and closely followed in the world.

Under the leadership of Minister Han Seong-sook, a former chief executive of NAVER, Korea's rise on the global innovation stage has been deliberate and sustained. A decade of investment, a maturing entrepreneurial culture, and renewed national focus on technology are reshaping the country's reputation – from a fast adopter to a consistent generator of world-class innovation. This progress is grounded in 30 years of the Special Act on the Promotion of Venture Businesses and 20 years of the Korea Fund of the Funds (KFoF), now one of Asia's most influential public investment vehicles supporting early-stage financing and private capital mobilization.

Nowhere is this shift more visible than at CES, where Korean startups have earned an impressive share of Innovation Awards year after year. Their presence – once modest – is now among the largest national contingent at the show, spanning AI, mobility, digital health, green technology, robotics, smart home solutions, beauty tech, and next-generation devices.

COMEUP 2025: Seoul's Annual Meeting of Ideas

In Seoul, COMEUP has become a fixture of the last-autumn and early-winter calendar, drawing founders, researchers, investors, and policy leaders from around the world. What began as a domestic showcase has evolved into a regional benchmark for emerging technology, offering structured IR matchmaking with multinational companies, global accelerators, and cross-border venture funds.

This year's event will attract thousands of participants from 46 countries and feature keynotes by Tareq Amin, CEO of Humain, and Sunghyun Park, CEO of Rebellions – reflecting COMEUP's growing influence in AI and advanced semiconductor innovation. The festival distinguishes itself from SWITCH and VivaTech through its strong public-private model, focus on investor-ready IR sessions, and record of elevating startups that later appear on global stages such as CES and MWC.

The Road to Las Vegas: A Stage That Reshaped Korea's Startup Identity

The journey from COMEUP in Seoul to CES in Las Vegas has become a meaningful progression for Korean founders, linking early-stage visibility at home with global exposure abroad. At CES 2026, Korea is preparing a substantial national delegation selected through national, regional, and sector-based programs. The K-Startup Pavilion – located in Eureka Park at the Venetian Park – will again serve as a gateway for Korean innovators to meet investors, buyers, global media, and multinational companies seeking next-generation technologies.

Korea's strong performance at CES is reflected in consistent Innovation Award recognition across AI systems, digital therapeutics, robotics, autonomous and electric mobility, smart-home technologies, high-performance displays, green-energy solutions, and beauty-tech devices. These are sectors where Korean companies have demonstrated repeated global competitiveness.

A Single Trajectory: Outward-Looking and Increasingly Bold

While COMEUP and CES serve different purposes, they form a coherent narrative: Korea's startup ecosystem is maturing and broadening its horizons. COMEUP offer breadth – a view of Korea's creative energy at its earliest stages. CES offers sharp global exposure, where award-winning technologies stand alongside the world's most advanced innovations.

Korea's innovation landscape is also becoming more international in reverse. Overseas startups are entering Korea through MSS programs, regulatory sandboxes, and corporate-led open-innovation initiatives. Seoul anchors many of these efforts, while regional centers are being strengthened to support international collaboration and market entry.

A Defining Chapter for Korea's Innovation Story

As 2025 concludes, Korean startups are securing global investment, entering new markets earlier, and advancing from experimental to commercial deployment in AI semiconductors, digital therapeutics, mobility, robotics, and green energy. Their trajectory – between COMEUP's stages and CES's vast exhibition halls – signals a community establishing a sustained international presence.

If the recent trend is any indication, the message is clear: Korean startups are no longer emerging – they are making their presence more vivid in across global markets.  

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SOURCE The Ministry of SMEs and Startups