Last week Las Vegas played host to the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), a huge annual event which draws nearly 150,000 attendees from more than 100 countries. While participation among startups was quite high with around 375 in attendance, several Ukrainian startups, hardware and non-hardware in focus, stood out. All of them have successfully carried out Kickstarter campaigns, or intend to do so soon.
The first Ukrainian startup to gain attention at CES was Concepter, which already unveiled its iBlazr app at last year’s event.The idea behind the app is that users can transmit signals by Morse code using a flash, a device which might be useful in extreme conditions. When used in the dark, a typical flash can reach up to 500 meters, but iBlazr can shine for up to 2 kilometers. The photo belows shows the startup’s stand, where they are demonstrating the newest app from Concepter for iOS.
Petcube, another Ukrainian startup in Las Vegas, was highlighted in reports on CES 2015 in Popular Science, The Verge, CNET, and even on Fox News. Journalists seemed impressed by the device, which allows users to remotely play with and watch their pets.
Another exhibition at the event was hosted by smart-display LaMetric, the parent company of which completed a successful campaign on Kickstarter last year. The team at LaMetric also managed to agree on the production of displays with Foxconn, the well-known Chinese factory which produces devices for Apple, Amazon, Pocketbook, and other major brands.
All of the aforementioned projects are known in the startup community of Ukraine and globally. However, there were newcomers at the event, as well. One of the newcomers was Branto, a Dnipropetrovsk-based startup developing solutions for the “smart” home. One of them is a hub with a camera capable of viewing 360 degrees, as well as speakers and remote-control devices. The device was entered in the TechCrunch CES Hardware Battlefield, but was not selected as a finalist.
The event attracted not only hardware projects, but also companies like SupportYourApp, which deals with customer-support solutions for apps.
Finally, CES also played host to demonstrations from well-known startup Augmented Pixels, which attended the event and was found at the Qualcomm booth.
This story was first published by Ukraine Digital News.
