SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) today announced that it established a digital healthcare joint venture named Invites Healthcare with Newlake Alliance Management, a Korean private equity firm.

With the aim to facilitate the growth of healthcare business by leveraging its advanced ICT, SK Telecom created Invites Healthcare by spinning off its healthcare business unit and joining hands with partners with extensive experience in the field.

Newlake Alliance Management became the largest shareholder of Invites Healthcare. SCL Healthcare, a healthcare company in Korea, is also scheduled to participate in the joint venture.

Once SCL Healthcare’s participation is completed, Invites Healthcare will be valued at around KRW 100 billion. SK Telecom will become the second largest shareholder with a 43.4% stake. Invites Healthcare has appointed Kim Joon-yun, who served as Vice President and Head of Healthcare/IVD Unit of SK Telecom, as its Chief Executive Officer.

Invites Healthcare will carry out diverse business activities in both domestic and overseas markets aimed at improving people’s health and realizing innovations for medical institutions through the use of cutting-edge ICT.

Invites Healthcare will develop ICT-based chronic disease management services to help people with chronic illnesses – e.g. cardiovascular diseases, respiratory illnesses, brain diseases, etc. - better manage their conditions. In this context, it will also take over and operate ‘Coach-coach Diabetes’*, a digital diabetes management platform/app developed by SK Telecom.

* Coach-coach Diabetes enables diabetic patients to self-manage their blood sugar level, diet and exercises, and allows physicians to monitor patient data in real time.

Moreover, Invites Healthcare plans to promote smart solutions business to realize ICT-driven innovations at medical institutions including hospitals. For instance, it will launch Smart MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operation) business to boost hospitals’ operational efficiency by helping with their purchasing and management of medical supplies. It will also develop ground-breaking cloud-based solutions powered by SK Telecom’s quantum cryptography and blockchain technologies to enable medical institutions to securely store and efficiently analyze vast amount of medical data.

Furthermore, Invites Healthcare plans to seek opportunities in the overseas healthcare markets through partnerships and collaborations. It will start by taking over SK Telecom’s global healthcare partnerships in the Middle East and Asia.

“As a digital healthcare company, Invites Healthcare will promote diverse business opportunities by applying state-of-the-art ICT to medical fields,” said Kim Joon-yun, CEO of Invites Healthcare. “Ultimately, Invites Healthcare will offer a wide variety of digital healthcare services that can help people protect their health and lead innovations in the digital healthcare ecosystem.”