SK Telecom invests in AI startups Allganize, Imprimed

SK Telecom Co. has invested a combined 9.4 billion won ($7.2 million) in artificial intelligence startups Allganize Inc. and Imprimed Inc., the top mobile carrier in South Korea said on Monday. 

The telecom company has injected 5.4 billion won and 4 billion won in Allganize and Imprimed, respectively. It didn’t disclose details on its holding rate in each startup.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Allganize provides more than 200 corporate clients with a large language model (LLM) via generative AI. Among its partners are Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company Ltd., retail giant Aeon Co. and Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co.

Corporate clients can buy apps from Allganize’s online market. The apps, powered by the LLM, can quickly analyze documents related to fields such as law, human resources and marketing and provide summarized information.

SK Telecom is planning to combine its AI cloud computing technologies with Allganize’s apps to advance the LLM and expand the online app business.

Imprimed, the other invested startup, is a California-headquartered biotech that provides personalized predictions on treatment success and response to specific cancer treatments. The company analyzes traits of a patient’s cancer cells and drugs to help identify the optimal treatment strategy. 

SK Telecom and Imprimed will jointly develop an AI model to predict cancer patients’ responses by analyzing clinical traits and genetic information.

K-AI Alliance, a group of AI startups backed by SK Telecom, currently has 16 companies. The mobile carrier is striving to transform into an AI company from a traditional telecom services provider.

The alliance operates in three sectors – AI service, AI transformation (AIX) and AI infrastructure. Allganize and Imprimed are in AIX, which backs machine learning firm Moloco Inc., self-driving vehicle AI solution startup Phantom AI Inc. and cooperation tool developer Swit Technologies Inc.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.