– under the theme ‘Ploour of the future and connect the points‘the event Gathered AI startups and investors
– The event presented the main IA portfolio companies of SK Networks, including Upstage and Phnyx Laboratory
– A round discussion On the future of Sovereign IA presented the president and COO of SK Networks, Sunghwan Choiand CEO of upstage, Sung Kim.
– “SK Networks will continue to play a central role in enlargement of the AI ecosystem and the conduct of commercial innovation.“”
Seoul, South Korea,, September 18, 2025 / Prnewswire / – September 17, SK Networks (CEO: Hojung lee) Successfully welcomed the ‘ska networks ai wave 2025’ in Wavehill, Walkerhill Hotel & Resort in ScrambleWhere he introduced his global investment portfolio in key AI and organized group discussions on the future of the Sovereign AI and AI industry. SK Networks AI Wave aims to promote connections and exchanges between the main AI startups and investors, with its inaugural event held in 2023.
This year’s event was co -pacarraine by HF0 (Hacker Fellowship Zero), a fund invested by SK Networks and renowned for its highly selective AI Startup residence program in Silicon Valley. More than 100 participants, including investors, founders and leaders in industry, attended the event, with Upstage, the only startup selected for the “Independent Ai Foundation Model” project led by the government.
In his opening speech, the president and COO of SK Networks Sunghwan Choi Said: “In a rapidly evolving world motivated by technology, it is crucial to guarantee growth opportunities thanks to active information exchanges between innovative startups, industry leaders and eminent investors.” He also added: “Thanks to this event, we aim to present our IA investment portfolio that we have built since 2020 and to extend the ecosystem where technology, capital and vision are interconnected.”
The event included company presentations and questions and answers to SK Networks portfolio companies, led by Blood Eun ShinAI growth manager at SK Networks and HF0 portfolio companies Dan MorseHead of IR at HF0. The technologies presented included platforms that automatize advertising and animation production using Loan and AI lending platforms designed to facilitate more effective transactions between consumers and capital providers, who received positive comments from participants. Companies have included upstage, which supports business customers in the creation of AI models and systems based on its competitive LLM technology, and Phnyx Lab, which launched the first generative AI solution of Korea specializing in the pharmaceutical industry and is developing on a global scale.
Dan Morsewith Blood Eun Shin,, Minseok BaeFounder and CEO of Phnyx Lab, and Raven GaoThe co-founder and CEO of Pix ai discussed “the future of AI and smart investment strategies offering different perspectives depending on their experience as business manager, investor and founders.
The highest point of the event was the round table between the president and COO of SK Networks Sunghwan Choi and CEO of upstage Sung Kim. Under the theme “the future of sovereign AI”, they exchanged points of view on the importance of sovereign AI, the latest trends and potential strategies to improve competitiveness.
Mr. Choi underlined: “Sovereign AI is a key strategy to secure digital sovereignty and advance future industries. Korea must build its own AI ecosystem thanks to daring investments led by the government and models of public-private cooperation, to ensure the alignment with global standards and to extend the technological ecosystem through national and international partners”. He added: “Custom models optimized for Korean cultural history, and the industrial environment will differentiate the sovereign AI of generic models of Big Tech Global”.
Mr. Kim said: “The key is to guarantee the technological leadership of Korea by taking advantage of technological expertise and the execution capacities recognized worldwide to direct the LLM domain and improve the sophistication of the latest border models.” He continued: “As part of the K-AI team, we will develop specialized models very practical and specific to the industry and expand an ecosystem of sustainable independent AI, allowing Korea to strengthen its industrial and world competitiveness in this new era.”
SK Networks plans to continue to organize events such as SK Networks’ Vague ai To share information on technological and industrial trends with AI startups and investment partners, promote mutual growth and innovation. The company also aims to accelerate its transformation into an AI company by advancing its business model and strengthening investment collaborations.
Blood Eun Shin said: “SK Networks AI Wave 2025 was designed not only as a briefing or a business forum, but as a real exchange platform and to strengthen connections between industry stakeholders. As a business portfolio focused on AI, we will strengthen our internal capacities and widen our global technology network Innovative results and expand technical objects “.
(Reference: participating startups)