South Korea-based SK Planet, an internet services subsidiary and corporate venturing unit of SK Telecom, will invest between $500m and $1bn to acquire US technology companies. The investment timeframe is between three and five years.
SK Plant joins Samsung, which in early 2013 earmarked $1bn across two US-focused funds, the Samsung Catalyst Fund and the Samsung Ventures America Fund. Samsung also opened a Strategy and Innovation Center and also made a $25m investment in US patents firm Intellectual Keystone Technology.
SK Planet will have offices in San Francisco and a team of about 40 including ex-Google and Apple employees to develop new mobile video, commerce and education services with a US customer base in mind, according to news reports.
One of its first investments is Frankly, a new messaging app, which is expected to launch this summer, said a report by The Next Web.