The largest telecom organization in South Korea, SK Group, has invested $10 million in an opportunity fund managed by ConsenSys, one of the largest global blockchain firms on the planet. This according to a report by the news agency Chosun.
SK Group has been a company looking to get more involved in the crypto industry, joining Samsung, as well as Kakao, and Hyundai. The chairman at SK Corporation, Chey Tae-won, one of the richest men in South Korea, expressed a strong desire to get involved in the blockchain and token economy. Speaking at a tech startup event in the capital city of Seoul, South Korea, Chey explained that it is time for businesses to “digitize” their practices.
This is good news for ConsenSys. Despite earning a reputation as one of the most influential blockchain firms on the planet, the company was looking for outside investments as recently as April 2019. They had quickly moved to the top of the heap in the crypto space since their inception but had struggled recently, forcing the company to seek an investment of $200 million.
Things appear to be looking up at ConsenSys now. On June 25, it was announced that the ITW Global Leaders Forum (GLF) was launching a new blockchain based platform, known as the Communications Blockchain Network (CBN). This venture brought together 11 of the most influential technology companies on the planet, including IBM, R3, and ConsenSys.
This diverse group of technology giants were looking to help build a global framework that could that would greatly improve automation and security. “The Communications Blockchain Network will first create a framework using a collaboration of various technology and business vendors, which is why they have included multiple providers. This also allows consensus to be built. When the network is live, the telecom and IT carriers can then choose specific vendors they are comfortable working with. Initially, this will be a collaborative framework, which will help build consensus, along with a global infrastructure,” Utpal Mangla, vice president and partner for IBM Global Business Services, explained in an interview at the time of the announcement.
ConsenSys sees this as a great opportunity to advance blockchain businesses. Lee Pickavance, Global Manging Director at the company, said in a statement shared with CoinGeek:
“SK Holdings Co. has invested $10 million, as the first LP, in a new opportunity fund managed by ConsenSys. The fund will invest in a wide range of businesses across the blockchain ecosystem, and is the first fund enabling third-party investors to deploy capital alongside ConsenSys. We saw this as a great opportunity to partner with SK Holdings Co. and look forward to partnering with other like-minded LPs to invest in emerging web3 infrastructure, products, and platforms around the globe.”
Now, ConsenSys finds themselves receiving a sizable investment from one of the most influential telecommunications groups in Asia. With South Korea becoming a hotbed for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, this should not only help to bolster the company’s financial success but also help to alleviate some concerns about the direction the company is heading. After spending years focused on innovation and less on profitability, partnering with SK Group appears to be a change in philosophy that should create greater solvency.
Editor’s Note: This article previously stated that SK Holdings invested $10 million directly in Consensys, which was incorrect. It’s now been corrected to state the investment was in a opportunity fund managed by Consensys with an additional quote from Lee Pickavance.
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