The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 18th that it has supported 39 domestic innovative startups to participate in the Viva Technology 2026 (Viva Tech), Europe's largest startup exhibition to be held at the Port de Versailles at the Expo in Paris, France, from June 17 to June 20 local time.
Viva Tech is a leading European start-up and tech exhibition in which startups, global companies, and investors participate to showcase future technologies and innovative businesses, with about 180,000 visitors from around the world and 14,000 startups participating. Since Korea was selected as the "country of the year" in 2023, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has created a "K-Startup Integration Center" at Viva Tech every year and supported domestic startups entering the European market.
This year, it will cooperate with the Ministry of Science and ICT and major start-up support organizations in Korea, including Gyeonggi Province, to operate a large-scale "K-Startup & K-Innovation" integration hall involving 39 start-ups. Suhyun Tech, which develops noiseless smart earplugs based on algorithms that separate harmful noise and voice, and Bonjak, which develops AI digital visual acoustics, will showcase their products and services.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, along with the Ministry of Science and ICT and Gyeonggi-do Province, plans to support companies participating in the integration hall to visit major French start-up support organizations, networking with local investors and accelerators, on-site consultations, and investment briefing sessions. Mok Seung-hwan, head of the start-up venture innovation division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will spare no support so that participating companies can actively expand to the European stage based on Viva Tech."
