A panel discussion “The truth about CES” took place in Kyiv Smart City Hub

On January 26, Kyiv Smart City Hub hosted a panel discussion “The truth about CES”. Ukrainian startup founders and investors shared their experience of participating in the largest technological exhibition in the world.

Speakers answered questions prepared by the moderator (Alexander Sanchenko) and talked to the audience. Lots of topics were discussed: from booth design and preparation of pitch sessions to methods of mass media recognition and attraction of distributors. Participants gave some advice and shared CES lifehacks.

Representatives of the venture association UVCA and the investment fund WNISEF told listeners about reasons for creating UA Tech Expo zone at CES 2017 and shared their impressions from the exhibition.

“At CES you understand that future is near”, said Olga Afanasieva (UVCA). She also noted that organizations are planning to coordinate Ukrainian startups’ zone at CES during the years to come.

Andrey Sorochan (WNISEF) emphasized that educational and IT projects are important for the fund and participation of Ukrainian teams in events, such as CES, are significant for the economy of the whole country.

“Las Vegas is turning into CES during the exhibition”, commented Svetlana Malevannaya (Raccoon.world) on the atmosphere of the event. Being the CEO of a VR startup which is getting ready for Kickstarter, she shared her experience of creating a base of potential backers at the exhibition.

“There is no such place as CES where technical market of the whole world is so concentrated”, said Alexander Nesterenko (ARTKB). He shared his unique experience of presenting two absolutely different startups in one booth.

Roman Belkin (Cardiomo) gave practical advice to startup founders gathering at CES. He recommended designing the booth in advance, running through a 30-second pitch, preparing visual materials, etc. The speaker told the audience about lots of interesting lifehacks for CES.

The event was initiated by Kyiv Smart City and supported by UVCA and WNISEF. InnoTech Ukraine press service will release additional material about the most interesting and memorable moments of the event. Follow updates in the news section.