SK Ventures

SK Ventures was an early-stage venture capital firm founded by prominent investors Paul Kedrosky and Eric Norlin. Operating primarily in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the firm focused on providing seed and early-stage capital to promising technology startups in the United States. With a lean operational structure, SK Ventures leveraged the extensive industry experience and networks of its co-founders, who are well-regarded figures in the venture capital and startup ecosystems. Their investment approach was characterized by a hands-on engagement with portfolio companies, aiming to support founders through critical initial growth phases.

The firm raised two distinct funds, SK Ventures Fund I in 2009 and SK Ventures Fund II in 2010, each totaling approximately $5 million. This relatively modest fund size for the period suggested a highly selective investment strategy, typically involving smaller initial checks compared to larger institutional funds. Given their early-stage focus and fund size, SK Ventures likely targeted initial investments in the range of $250,000 to $750,000, with potential for follow-on capital. Their portfolio reflected an interest in emerging technology trends, particularly in areas like cloud infrastructure and data services.

Among their notable investments, SK Ventures backed Cloudability, a cloud cost management platform, which was later acquired by Apptio for an estimated $160 million in 2019. Another significant investment was SimpleGeo, a location-based services platform, which was acquired by Urban Airship in 2011. These successful exits underscore SK Ventures' ability to identify and support companies that achieved significant strategic value, despite the firm's compact fund size and limited number of publicly disclosed investments. The firm's strategy appeared to be about making concentrated bets on high-potential early-stage companies.

While SK Ventures itself appears to have concluded its active investment period, the legacy of its founders, Paul Kedrosky and Eric Norlin, continues through their subsequent ventures and contributions to the tech community. Their work with SK Ventures provided crucial early capital to companies that went on to achieve successful outcomes, demonstrating a keen eye for disruptive technologies and capable founding teams. The firm served as an example of how experienced individual investors, pooling capital, could make impactful early-stage investments.