Korea Market Entry / Insights

Korea Market Entry Playbook · 4 min read

How to Meet Korean Startups and Partners at CES 2027

By Brian JY Yoo, LinkedIn B2B Growth Strategist, Founder of Founders Lab · October 23, 2026

CES 2027 runs from January 6 to 9, 2027 in Las Vegas. If you are an investor, a corporate innovation team, a distributor or a foreign company looking for Korean partners, it is one of the most efficient weeks of the year to meet Korea in one place. Korea consistently brings one of the largest startup delegations to Eureka Park, and Korea's major groups use CES to show their technology roadmaps.

The challenge is volume. Hundreds of Korean companies, several pavilions, and four days. I have trained Korean startups preparing for CES, including IBK Changgong's CES 2026 cohort on LinkedIn for B2B and its CES 2027 program on North American fundraising. This guide is the other side of that work: how to find and meet the right Korean companies before, during and after CES 2027.

01
Know where Korean companies will be

• Eureka Park: the startup area, where most Korean startups exhibit. Many are grouped in pavilions organized by Korean government agencies, universities, regional governments and accelerator programs.
• The main convention halls: Korea's large groups and mid-sized technology companies exhibit here, usually with their own large booths.
• Side events: Korean government agencies, accelerators and investors often host pitch sessions, networking receptions and demo days during CES week.

Pavilions are useful because one organizer can introduce you to many companies at once. If you are scouting a category, ask the pavilion organizer which exhibitors match it before you walk the floor.

02
Shortlist before you fly

Do not rely on walking the floor. Build a shortlist of 15 to 30 Korean companies in December.

• Search LinkedIn posts for "CES 2027" together with "Korea" or "Eureka Park". Korean founders announce their booth numbers there.
• Check the CES exhibitor directory once it is published and filter by country and category.
• Look at the CES Innovation Awards honorees, which are announced before the show. Korean companies are well represented every year.
• For each company, check the founder's LinkedIn profile: is there an English headline, recent activity, evidence of customers or pilots?

03
Reach out early, and keep it simple

Korean founders at CES are under pressure to fill their meeting calendars, especially with investors and corporate partners. A short, specific message in December is usually welcome.

04
What to ask in a 15-minute booth meeting

• Who are your current customers in Korea, and which one is the best reference?
• Have you run a pilot or proof of concept with a large Korean company or hospital? What happened next?
• What do you need from a foreign partner: distribution, investment, a pilot site, or technology integration?
• Who on your team handles international partnerships, and how do they prefer to follow up?
• Are you in a Korean government or accelerator program that supports overseas pilots?

The last question matters. Many Korean startups at CES are supported by programs that can co-fund overseas pilots or travel, which can make a first collaboration easier for both sides.

05
If you want to sell into Korea, CES is also where Korean buyers scout

CES is not only for meeting Korean startups. Innovation, R&D and business development teams from Korean groups and mid-sized manufacturers attend to scout foreign technology. If your goal is to sell into Korea, make sure your own LinkedIn profile mentions Korea, prepare a one-page introduction that a Korean team can forward internally, and ask every Korean visitor who in their company evaluates new suppliers.

For the bigger picture on Korean partnerships with distributors, large groups and the public sector, read How to Find B2B Partners in Korea.

06
After CES: turn booth conversations into Korean meetings

Most CES conversations fade by February. The ones that turn into partnerships usually have three things: a follow-up within a week, a clear next step, and someone on the ground in Korea to keep the momentum.

• Send a short follow-up within 48 hours of returning, mentioning one detail from your conversation.
• Propose one concrete next step: a video call with the technical team, a sample, or a pilot outline.
• Plan a visit to Seoul in the spring to meet the companies that responded, along with their customers and partners.

This is where we can help. The Korea Fit Check ($500) turns your CES shortlist into a vetted target list and arranges a meeting with a Korean company. The Part-time Korea Consultant ($1,200 per month) follows up in Korean and arranges at least two new qualified meetings every month. If you are thinking about a longer-term presence, read Hiring a Country Manager in Korea.

#CES2027 #EurekaPark #KoreanStartups #KoreaPavilion #StartupInvesting #OpenInnovation #KoreaMarketEntry #B2BKorea #CESLasVegas #KoreaPartnership