Singapore Telecommunications, Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company, set up a $200 million venture fund to invest in start-ups to get access to new technology and boost growth.

The company will work with innovators, government agencies and research organizations and equity providers to explore new technologies, Chief Executive Officer Chua Sock Koong said today. SingTel will be the sole owner of the new fund, the company said in a statement.

 

The SingTel Innov8 venture fund is part of the company’s plan to transform itself from a traditional telecommunications supplier to a multimedia and information-technology services provider, the statement said. Mobile-phone operators are counting on the popularity of smartphones such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone to drive up usage of wireless data and applications to revive profit growth as markets saturate worldwide.

 

“With Innov8, the group will continue to shape the market and deliver sustainable growth into the future,” Chua said.

 

The fund will invest and incubate innovations to eventually bring them to the market, the statement said.

 

Singtel fell 0.3% to $3.09 at 10:58 a.m in the city state, while the benchmark Straits Times Index added 0.2%.

 

Last week, SingTel said it aims to boost revenue from non- telecommunications business to 50% of the total for the Singapore unit in three years from 30% now.

 

SingTel’s annual sales growth has averaged 6.1% in the past five years, lagging behind the 19% average for China Mobile, the world’s largest telecommunications company by market value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.