On April 6, SK C&C announced a partnership with US venture capital firm Storm Ventures to accelerate customer-specific digitalization in the B2B market.
The agreement aims to discover startups with promising global technologies related to B2B technology business and cooperate in business.
Storm Ventures, established in 2000, is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that focuses on early investments in B2B technology startups, with assets under management of $1 billion through seven funds. The firm has discovered and nurtured unicorn companies such as Talkdesk, Workato, Splashtop, Marketo, and Solarisbank.
Under the agreement, SK C&C and Storm Ventures will create a global digital innovation ecosystem by combining Storm Ventures' digital market and new technology discovery capabilities with SK C&C's industry-specific digital ITS business capabilities. SK C&C will discover innovative technologies and business models in the global B2B sector at an early stage and apply them to customers' businesses.
When Storm Ventures introduces portfolios and promising startups that are expected to create synergies with SK C&C, SK C&C will verify the technology of the startups and prepare plans for optimal digital system application and expansion. The companies plan to develop these proven technologies into representative digital offerings for each industry, such as manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, and services, to support customers' rapid and reliable digital innovation.
The partnership will focus on discovering businesses in the AI-based B2B field, where new innovations are expected to take place with the advent of super-giant AI. The two companies expect to achieve rapid results in digital factories, digital marketing, digital workplaces, data analysis, and no-code solutions.
By applying SaaS-type AI technology, manufacturing and energy companies that operate large-scale equipment and machinery can increase the level of predictive maintenance and maintenance automation. Additionally, when robot process automation with AI consultation is combined with workflow automation technology tailored to corporate business processes in the form of SaaS, it can improve the complex working environment of companies and quickly increase work efficiency.
Overall, the partnership aims to create a digital innovation ecosystem that will bring new technologies and business models to the B2B market, accelerating digitalization in various industries and supporting customers' digital innovation.
Ryan Floyd, co-founder and CEO of Storm Ventures, said, "We will create cooperation opportunities between promising global startups and Korean enterprise customers to help grow the level of digital capabilities."
Kim Wan-jong, head of SK C&C's digital business, said, "Through this agreement, we will quickly secure and verify innovative global B2B technologies and lead the digitalization of customer businesses."
