Korean founders building in the US face a classic gap: they are too global for Seoul-only investors and too foreign for Silicon Valley networks. Primer Sazze Partners funding was created to close exactly that gap. Now branding itself as Sazze Partners, the firm has, since 2018, been a network of ideas, ambition and capital connecting East Asia and North America — with offices in San Jose and Seoul and more than 100 portfolio companies. The name says it all: sazze (sa-jae) is a Korean word for the trust-laden bond between mentor and mentee.
Primer Sazze Partners funding: thesis, sectors and cheque size
The firm launched its first fund at $42.9 million in 2018 and closed a second fund at $127 million (150 billion won) in 2021, co-led by LG Corporation and Hana Financial, bringing total assets under management to roughly $170 million. It writes initial tickets of $500,000 to $3 million into pre-seed to Series A rounds, with follow-on capacity. The focus sectors are AI, SaaS, health tech, food tech and consumer — plus companies riding Korean culture, from K-pop and drama to Korean food and beauty.
The LP roster is itself a mentorship engine: successful Korean tech entrepreneurs including Saeju Jeong (CEO of Noom), Tim Hwang (FiscalNote), John Kim (SendBird), Chang Kim (Tapas Media) and Bong-Jin Kim (founder of Woowa Brothers) back the fund and work alongside the firm to mentor the next generation of Korean founders. Founding partner Kiha Lee describes the mission as helping portfolio companies accelerate global expansion.
Notable portfolio
Backed names include AI infrastructure firm Upstage AI, AI voice platform LOVO, gamer dating app Kippo, telemedicine platform DoctorNow, security company Chequer Global, 3D capture startup Cupix, music data firm Chartmetric and oncology diagnostics company Imprimed — several of which raised follow-on rounds soon after Sazze's seed bets.
How to apply for funding
Sazze Partners runs a "How We Invest" section on its official site, primersazze.com, with portfolio and contact links — that is the official route to pitch the team. Founders should lead with global ambition: the firm explicitly looks for ideas with the potential to become global businesses, and a warm intro through one of its entrepreneur LPs is a strong accelerant.
Why it matters for founders
Primer Sazze is the cross-border bridge for Korean entrepreneurs — San Jose credibility plus Seoul networks, cheques up to $3 million, and mentors who have already scaled global companies. If your ambition spans both continents, this is the firm built for you.