i3 - January/February 2019 - 82

Policy

By Jeremy Snow

T EC H H U B

Around the World In Eureka Park
CES' Premiere startup location features 33+ countries

ureka Park - located in Hall G of the Sands - is the
place to be for startups. It's where the industry's newest innovators can unveil their product or app to the
world, find funding and get to market. Since 2012, Eureka
Park exhibitors have been incredibly successful, raising
$1.5 billion in funding overall.

And just like the rest of CES, Eureka Park
is a global stage. Now in its eighth year,
the showroom's startups come from
about 33 different countries, with reps
from the six major continents. Whether
it's established tech hubs like France and
Israel, or countries like Egypt and South
Africa looking to jumpstart their reputation, Eureka Park is one of the most welcoming tech events you can attend.

Why do Startups Come to
Eureka Park?

Eureka Park offers every networking and
business-based experience a young company could ask for. Each year, roughly
3,500 financial professionals and 6,500
media, investors and suppliers come to
CES looking for the next unicorn.
Thanks to its size and influence,
accelerators and venture firms bring
their own cluster of companies together
at the show, too. A community-based
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venture firm called Hardware Club, for
example, features an "alley" where
their members can exhibit their products and network with each other.
There's also the crowdfunding site
Indiegogo, which hosts the "Indiegogo
Zone" to showcase their most successful campaigns.
"Eureka Park lets customers really
experience the products of early-stage
entrepreneurs," explained Indiegogo's
CEO Dave Mandelbrot. This year, more
than 200 companies that used
Indiegogo will be at Eureka Park. "On
the showfloor, you are surrounded by
these great products you can see and
touch - innovation is all around you."
Countries love Eureka Park's opportunities, too. Booths like La French
Tech and the Holland Tech Pavilion
show how nations can bring together
startups at CES. The Holland Startup
Pavilion hosts more than 50 companies

from the Netherlands with a wide range
of focuses, including health care, security and gaming. Keep an eye on Dutch
companies looking to revolutionize
their field - like Chargetrip, who
makes smart navigation for electric
vehicles, or Gaiku, who creates software to make scheduling and running
meetings easier.
The country with the largest presence - not including the U.S. - is
France, with 231 tech companies
exhibiting at CES 2019. The French
government has an accreditation system to award and support startups.
The result is La French Tech, a program that depends on Eureka Park as
a booster pad for its young companies.
Other countries share France and
Holland's outlook towards using the
show to boost their businesses.
Germany and Israel also have prominent "hubs" at Eureka Park, while
countries like Switzerland, South
Korea, Taiwan and India also have
multiple companies at the show.
When it comes to technology, there
are no borders - innovation knows no
bounds. Eureka Park's global reach is
part of what makes its influence last
long after the show is over.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

i3 - January/February 2019

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