SK Telecom ties with U.S. venture capital

SK Telecom Co. has established a strategic alliance with U.S. venture capital firm BlueRun Ventures for joint investment in the IT industry, SK Telecom announced yesterday.

Under the agreement signed yesterday at the 3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona, Spain, SK Telecom will develop cutting-edge IT technologies and improve global R&D capacity, the company said.

In particular, both companies will share knowledge of trends in their respective business areas and seek joint investment opportunities, SK Telecom said.

BlueRun Ventures, whose largest shareholder is Finnish telecoms company Nokia, operates $1 billion worth of global funds in the mobile and IT-related sectors. It was established in 1998 and has branches in the United States, Finland, China, India and Israel.

"We are making various efforts to find a new growth engine, developing new technologies and business models. To actively engage in overseas markets, upgrading global R&D capacity is a must. The alliance will link our company to other firms armed with innovative technologies in the IT market," said Oh Se-hyun, senior vice president and head of technology strategy group of SK Telecom, in a statement.

(yoonmi@heraldm.com)



By Kim Yoon-mi