The Seoul Business Agency made a sizable push at CES 2026, setting up a 743-square-meter pavilion in Eureka Park and bringing 70 startups to Las Vegas for the four-day tech showcase that ran from January 6 to 9.
This wasn’t a bare-bones booth operation. SBA, which operates under the Seoul Metropolitan Government and focuses on boosting the city’s startup ecosystem, pulled together 19 organizations to make it happen. That included four district offices from Seoul, five startup support institutions like Seoul AI Hub and Seoul Fintech Lab, plus nine major universities ranging from Seoul National to Yonsei.
The pavilion itself got some upgrades this year. Beyond the usual main stage and consultation spaces, SBA added a Media Center and an Innovation Award Exhibition Space—both designed to draw more foot traffic and give winning startups better visibility. They also recruited 70 university students to handle interpretation and booth operations, mixing students from Seoul’s top universities with Korean students studying at UNLV who already knew the local terrain.
A Splashy Opening With “Seoul POP” Branding
SBA kicked things off with an opening ceremony built around a “Seoul POP” theme—meant to represent Seoul’s innovation bursting onto the global stage. The event leaned into the performative side of trade shows, complete with rhythmic music, video content, and representatives from participating organizations performing with can-shaped props on stage.
Attendees waved “Morning Yellow” cheering sticks, apparently Seoul’s official color for 2026, while startups and student supporters filled the seats. It’s the kind of coordinated spectacle that either energizes your booth traffic or feels a bit over-produced depending on your tolerance for pageantry.
SBA CEO Hyunwoo Kim used the countdown moment to position the Seoul Pavilion as “not only the most vibrant space at CES but also a venue that global buyers must visit.” Bold claim at a show packed with flashy exhibitors, but SBA backed it up with programming beyond the ceremony itself.
Real Results Before the Show Even Started
Here’s where it gets more interesting: SBA got 10 companies into CES Unveiled on January 4, two days before the official show opening. CES Unveiled is the media preview event where selected exhibitors present to global press before the chaos begins. Getting a slot there means you’ve already cleared a credibility bar, and the 10 Seoul companies that participated reportedly received substantial coverage from international outlets.
The participating startups covered AI, mobility, healthcare, and other advanced tech sectors. Seventeen of them won CES 2026 Innovation Awards, including one Best of Innovation Award that went to Studio Lab Co., Ltd. That top-tier award typically goes to around 30 companies worldwide each year, putting Studio Lab in the same conversation as Samsung and Qualcomm for 2026.
SBA claims it provided two months of pre-consulting to help Seoul startups position for those awards. Whether that prep work made the difference or the products simply stood on their own merits is hard to say, but seventeen wins out of seventy companies is a respectable hit rate.
Why This Pavilion Model Matters
What stands out here isn’t just the number of startups or the square footage—it’s the coordination. Getting 19 organizations aligned, recruiting students for ground support, securing media preview slots, and running award prep programs takes institutional capacity that many cities lack.
Does that guarantee the 70 startups will convert CES meetings into actual deals? Not necessarily. Trade show success stories often evaporate once companies get back home and reality sets in. But SBA appears to be building repeatable infrastructure for getting Seoul startups international exposure, which matters more than any single event outcome.
CEO Kim framed the pavilion as “a stage for real business” rather than just a tech exhibition. That’s the right framing, because at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is whether these 70 companies walk away with partnerships, investment interest, or distribution agreements worth the trip to Vegas.
Based on the Innovation Awards and media attention, at least some of them probably did.
