[Barcelona, Spain = DigitalToday reporter Jin-ho Lee] SK Telecom will support 500 promising startups over the next 5 years. It aims to actively support the AI industry ecosystem by joining the government’s startup fostering policy.

On March 5, SKT CEO Jung Jae-heon (정재헌) met the heads of South Korean startups at MWC26 in Barcelona, Spain, and pledged to become an “AI companion”. This year, SKT is running an SKT startup exhibition hall at 4YFN (4 Years From Now), an MWC26 side event, and is supporting exhibitions by 15 startups in the AI and ESG fields.

Jung held a meeting on March 3 local time with the heads of startups participating in the exhibition and outlined SKT’s plans and vision for revitalising startups. He also pledged to actively join the government’s stance on fostering AI startups, including its “Startup and Venture Policy Vision” and “Comprehensive Measures to Become One of the Four Leading Venture Nations”.

“SKT also promises to become an AI companion for startups as part of actively responding to the government’s will,” Jung said. “SKT will support fostering 500 startups through various methods over a total of 5 years through 2030,” he added.

SKT will support 80 startups this year through various programmes, including a startup accelerating programme, a collaboration platform and consultation meetups. It plans to increase the number supported each year to 90 in 2027, 100 in 2028, 110 in 2029 and 120 in 2030, supporting an average of 100 a year over the 5 years.

“CEO Jung Jae-heon’s promise is not a simple declaration, but a strategy to connect SKT’s AI technology, infrastructure and business capabilities with startups in practice and grow together,” SKT said. “SKT will continue all-round cooperation to help startups make a leap into global markets,” it added.