Technology

Posted on October 24, 2017 by staff

Start-ups receive Government support for CES 2018

Technology

The Government is to help send a selection of tech start-ups to CES in Las Vegas after criticism from the expo’s chief Gary Shapiro.

Shapiro said the Government will fund a “pavilion”, run by industry group TechUK, within the January show’s Eureka Park start-up zone which will host a dozen start-ups.

Only 55 UK companies exhibited at CES this year, compared with 248 from France and 1,314 from China.

There were 4,000 exhibitors in all, with 60,000 attendees.

Shapiro said earlier this year that it was “a source of embarrassment” that the Government had not helped start-ups attend the show.

Paul Hide, TechUK’s director of market engagement, told the BBC of the strategy shift: “[Shapiro’s comments] definitely helped.

“We’ve been pushing the DIT (Department for International Trade) for some time to give us additional support.

“It gives us a stronger identity by having a hub of a number of UK companies and allows us to promote a central location.”

Shapiro told the BBC: “[The Government has] stepped up [by] having a presence that they did not have last year.”

London-based wearable tech firm Doppel is one of the firms who will benefit from the space at CES.