Consumer Tech And Media Leaders Gather At IFA 2025 Global Connect Event

The Global Connect event at IFA 2025 in Berlin saw journalists and industry leaders in consumer technology gather to highlight the industry's latest innovations and consumer tech gadgets. With smart vacuums and lawn mowers that push the norm of market expectations and AR glasses programmed with novel features, Global Connect gave industry leaders and the media generous access to some ingenious products and the minds who engineered them.

IFA, originally the Internationale Funkausstellung, or the "International Radio Exhibition" in German, is now known by the moniker "Innovation für Alle" ("innovation for all") and is the largest home and consumer tech event in the world. Brands at the exhibition — including heavyweights like Samsung, Electrolux, and LG — aim to showcase their industry-defining products and future-shaping concepts. "IFA has always stood for innovation without borders," Leif Lindner, CEO of IFA, explained at the event. "Every year in Berlin, we bring together companies, creators, and visionaries from across the world, and what makes IFA truly unique is the international dialogue [and] the exchange of ideas and technologies that shape the future of how we live, work, and connect." 

However, the Global Connect event also gave newer brands lacking the recognition of their worldwide counterparts the opportunity to shine and build partnerships vital to their growth. With publishing powerhouses like Static Media and partnership management platforms such as PartnerBoost on hand, these companies had a chance to expose their most innovative products to global audiences and find new sales opportunities in a major marketplace.  

Recognized as the most exciting and innovative by those in attendance, three vendors received an IFA Global Connect Award. The winning companies were Status Audio, a rising star in audio listening devices; Ulike, the creators of at-home hair removal tech products; and Rokid, the innovators behind new streaming-capable AR glasses that take TV and entertainment on the road.

Meanwhile, any vendors hoping to connect their products with larger audiences had ample opportunities to do so at Global Connect, where over 50 journalists from various media outlets were present. One of the event's sponsors, Static Media, a digital publishing heavy-hitter with a monthly readership of 150 million and well-known publications like Hunker, House Digest, and SlashGear, was also in attendance and ready to offer cross-vertical exposure to IFA's growing suite of innovators. Addressing the attendees at Global Connect, Ste Knight, Partnerships Director at Static Media, highlighted these opportunities. "[Static Media] provides trusted, experienced editorial voices, ... [and a] partnership pedigree, and by that, I mean over 200 partnership packages being delivered by Static Media this year." 

Some of the brands looking to get their products onto online marketplaces found a partner in Alan Gu, founder and CEO of PartnerBoost. As Gu explained at the event, "PartnerBoost is an affiliate marketing platform ... helping Amazon sellers, DTC sellers, and now Walmart sellers to get partnerships to promote your products, and you just pay the commission based on the sales." Intrigued by the prospect of new sales avenues, several brands took Gu up on his offer at the event.