Sazze Partners Research
Overview
Sazze Partners (Primer Sazze Partners) is a cross-border early-stage venture firm founded in 2018. It connects Korean and Korean-American founders with Silicon Valley and East Asian markets. "Sazze" (사제) is a Korean word for the mentor and mentee relationship. The firm has offices in Burlingame, California, and in Gangnam, Seoul, and says it has 100+ active companies.
Investment Thesis
The firm describes itself as a network of ideas, ambition and capital linking East Asia and North America. It backs ideas with global ambition and says it wants to be the founder's first and major investor, then a long-term partner that helps a company expand globally. It pitches itself as a knowledge platform offering market intelligence, operating know-how and a network. Its stated expertise is cross-border expansion, go-to-market strategy, fundraising and board construction, executive recruitment, and leadership development.
Stage Focus
The firm says it focuses on the early stages of a company's life and follows on through growth stages. Press coverage of its second fund describes seed and Series A investing. Its own job posting describes early-stage investing in Korean startups with global potential and in US startups founded by Koreans and the Korean diaspora.
Check Size
The firm's site does not state a check size. Third-party aggregators suggest a wide range, but nothing was verified from a primary source, so check size is left empty.
Lead Tendency
Not stated on the site. A LinkedIn post says the firm led a $3.8M seed round, but lead behavior across the portfolio is unverified, so it is recorded as unknown.
Funds and Recent Activity
- Fund I: about $42.9M (per TechCrunch, Nov 2021).
- Fund II: a $127M target announced in Nov 2021; the firm's Nov 2023 blog post reports a final close at $135M.
- Fund II corporate LPs were reported in 2021 coverage; the fund is treated as still deploying.
- The firm's job page names Upstage, Olive International and Nitra as flagship portfolio companies.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio page lists many companies across sectors, with pagination beyond the first page that could not be read. Companies named on the first page include FiscalNote, Chartmetric, Cupix, BuildBlock, BacklotCars, Domuso, DoctorNow, QueryPie (Checquer Global), Kippo, Dalpha, Exosphere Labs and Golerobotics. Press and the job page add Upstage, Nitra, LOVO, Imprimed and Zikooin Company. The mix spans AI, SaaS, marketplaces, real estate, healthcare, media and content, consumer brands, and some climate and deep tech.
Team
- Kiha Lee, Partner (founding partner)
- Greg Kwangrog Kim, Partner
- Eun Soo Park, Partner
- Do Gyun Guen, Partner
- Ohsang Kwon, Partner
- Kathy Ku, Partner
- Sukhyun Kim, Venture Partner
- Ukjin (Jay) Kwon, Principal
- Grace Kim and Gihun Choi, Associates
- Venture Partners: Aviram Jenik, Sang-hun Kim, David Paik
- Featured advisors are founders including those of Woowa Brothers, Sendbird, Noom, Moloco, FiscalNote, Spring Health and Lunit.
Decision Process
Not disclosed. A multi-partner structure suggests partnership decisions.
Founder Preferences
Founders with global ambition, especially Korean and Korean-American entrepreneurs. The firm stresses its own operator background in the US and Korea and offers hands-on help with go-to-market and hiring.
Geographic Focus
South Korea, the United States and broader East Asia, with a strong Korea-to-US cross-border angle.
Gaps
Check size, lead tendency, fund vintage and ownership targets are not stated on the firm's site. Portfolio pages 2 and 3 could not be read (pagination did not load), so the portfolio list is partial and stage and date per company are not recorded.