SK Telecom invests $100 mn in American UAM developer

South Korea's SK Telecom.Co has invested $100 million (131.6 billion won) in Joby Aviation, a Santa Cruz, California-based developer of urban air mobility (UAM), in an apparent bid to enter the future mobility sector, which is nicknamed the second electric vehicle industry.

Joby Aviation on Thursday said SK Telecom bought a 2% share in it. Concluding a cooperative relationship with the American company in February last year and now promoting a Korean-style UAM, SK Telecom has bought its first stake in an external UAM-related company.

Dubbed a flying taxi, UAM is an advanced air mobility service featuring electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) craft without the need for a runway in a city center and connectable to other land transportation methods.

Joby Aviation, a leading maker of UAM, has models capable of covering the longest distance of 249 km and posting the fastest speed of 330 km per hour among publicly available eVTOL vehicles.

Through its equity investment, SK Telecom can use Jovy Aviation aircraft exclusively in South Korea and plans to use it in a government-sponsored demonstration project for Korean UAM (K-UAM) dubbed the K-UAM Grand Challenge under the supervision of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Even after UAM is commercialized in the country around 2025, the company can keep promoting the business with its American partner.

"Based on cooperation with Joby, we will do our best to promote and commercialize the UAM demonstration project by adopting the world's best UAM in the country," SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang said.

Commercial UAM service is expected to start in 2025, and the ministry said the global market for this sector is forecast to skyrocket from 13 trillion won in 2025 to 755 trillion won in 2040.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com