6 Startup Successes at CES 2019
This past January StartupDelta took 50 Dutch Startups to the world’s biggest technology conference, CES 2019. Showcasing the best in Dutch Tech, it was an opportunity for our chosen entrepreneurs to meet with investors, potential customers and gain exposure for their brands.
During the week there were many highlights with half of the delegation receiving international media coverage, 95% evaluating they hit their goals for the show and over 1300 meaningful conversations happening on the first day alone!
Here are 6 startups that attended with the Dutch Delegation and a short summary of their success at the show!
Etergo
Founded in Amsterdam, Etergo is creating the future of urban mobility with its electric app scooter. Their story of increased safety, more storage and other marketing leading innovations resonated with the audience at CES winning them both IHS Markit Innovation Award and the Techstars Mobility Pitch Competition.
On top of speaking with industry leaders at the show, they also managed to garner international press coverage. Being covered by the likes of Mashable and New Atlas.
Scalys
Scalys, based in Hengelo developed the Trustbox, a router and IoT gateway designed to secure IoT devices on home networks. Scalys worked with Microsoft and semiconductor manufacturer NXP to make the Trustbox the most secure gateway on the market.
This innovation was recognized by CES at their innovation awards where corporates and scaleups battled it out for the prizes. Scalys managed to beat out their larger counterparts winning the cybersecurity and personal privacy award. With it came mentions in Forbes, Daily Mail, and Tech Republic and nationally in Nu.nl, Telegraaf, BNR and Bright.
On top of the awards and attention, they also managed to make connections with potential customers, corporate partners, and prospective distributors.
Sound Energy
Sound Energy, a company from Enschede that converts heat into cold via a Stirling engine showcased its revolutionary new solution at CES for the first time. The company were a last minute addition to the CES delegation but showed you can still make an impact when short on preparation time.
Not only did they get featured by Forbes on the above article for their new solution but also had many conversations with key potential customers to expand their client base internationally. Sound Energy left the show and within weeks had finalized orders for their product.
Somnox
Somnox, the company behind the Somnox sleep robot attended CES for a second time this year. Following on from the success of 2018 Somnox was showcasing its finished beta product and handing out demo units to influential journalists and sleep experts for testing.
Leading international news website Reuters highlighted Somnox as part of their best in show line-up along the likes of LG, Samsung, and other multinational tech companies. Fox News’ Morning Show also featured the device live on air to it’s 2.4 million viewers across the USA.
The beta testers during CES included BILD, Thrive Global and The Washington Post. Helping journalists get a good nights rest during a busy show was a great way to engage with them, giving them something that would add instant value. Not only did journalists get to test drive the lifelike robot but also it joined the sleep tzar Roy Raymann, Ph.D. and author W. Christopher Winter, MD in bed.
Circularise
Circularise, founded in Delft in 2016 is looking to create the open, distributed and secure communications protocol for the circular economy. Making their debut at CES they hit the ground running receiving a lot of interest from the industry, particularly from the automotive and plastics sectors and by now have already conducted several workshops with these parties.
They also gained media attention speaking with www.globaltrademag.com, www.zdnet.fr and sourcingjournal.com. Circularise went on to say:
Start early with the PR. Do it, and if you can do it more. Also, build personal connections with the journalists. If you are selling hardware, send your product to people who might be interested in reviewing it. Be proactive!
Although a secure communications protocol isn’t the easiest product/service to demo Circularise still found success by making sure their pitch was on point so for every interaction people got what they were doing straight away. Circularise also made the most of the pavilion program meeting with delegations (as pictured above) from industry and attending numerous investors speed dates.
Zoi Meet
Zoi Meet, previously Volareo, an AI-powered Business Assistant that can translate and provide live subtitles joined CES 2019 to demo their product. With the high footfall of the Dutch pavillion, Zoi Meet was able to speak with a lot of potential international clients. They received huge interest from the business community and a few hundred signups for their waiting list prior to launch in April.
Zoi Meet (Volareo) was also covered by an array of online and offline media outlets. The key for them was having all these meetings clearly set up before the show began, this included coverage by the BBC for their device amongst national Dutch coverage and other tech media. Following on from the show Zoi Meet has joined Techstars Berlin to further accelerate the business!
Zoi Meet’s top tip for the show:
Come prepared, connect and schedule meetings before coming to the show. Have an interesting product to demo
