In 1993, Steven Lee’s parents opened Seven Star Fashion, a textile shop in L.A.’s Koreatown, after immigrating from South Korea to build a new life.
“They were the first entrepreneurs I knew,” said Lee. “They worked long hours, a classic immigrant story. They came here with basically nothing, and didn’t know how to speak English. They didn’t have a network—and they’re a very big influence for what I do today.”
Today, a very different Seven Star launches. Steven Lee has left his role as a partner at SV Angel to start his own firm, Seven Stars, which is debuting with an oversubscribed $40 million fund. Raised in just five weeks, the fund focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage investments in AI applications across both consumer and enterprise categories. Lee plans to back 35 to 45 companies per year. Limited partners include a university endowment and a pension fund—both undisclosed—as well as StepStone Group and Sapphire Partners.
Nate Leung, Sapphire partner and OpenLP cofounder, said part of Lee’s pitch was refreshingly simple: “an outstanding track record from a highly respected firm.” SV Angel—founded by legendary VC Ron Conway—has a long history of early bets on companies like Google, Facebook, and Airbnb.
Lee built his own reputation within that legacy, focusing on AI, and was involved in backing startups like ElevenLabs, Mercor, Captions, Reflection AI, and Skild AI, as well as personally investing in OpenAI. These early partnerships helped lay the foundation for his new firm. Hunter Somerville, partner at StepStone Group, pointed to Lee’s “extensive relationships and trusted reputation with leading AI companies” as another key strength.
“I’ve started to build this unique network, really understanding what these visionary AI founders need from their early investors,” Lee told Fortune. “I really believe that AI is the equalizer for the 90%, and it’s already transforming lives at a global scale. And it really starts with motivated founders who are building enduring companies, empowering individuals and other companies to thrive. And while AI’s already benefiting 1 billion knowledge workers today—we’re already seeing it in finance, law, marketing—I’m most excited about AI’s impact on the next 8 billion people.”
He’s already invested in five companies since launching the fund, though he declined to name them. Lee’s value-add strategy is highly focused: offering hands-on fundraising support, access to a curated advisory network, and help with hiring across all levels.
“It’s not just helping with hiring early, with entry-level engineers, but helping and closing and sourcing for mid-level to senior-level executives,” said Lee. “When you put those three things together, that’s kind of the investor that I want to be. And I think that’s very unique in this moment of time, especially as a lot of these first-time AI founders are navigating this really complex technology for the first time as well.”
Influenced by his parents, Lee had always imagined starting something of his own one day. Despite working in AI (or perhaps because he works in AI), he believes success isn’t just about the technology—it’s also about the people behind it and the life experiences they bring.
“Building a company, or any kind of business is incredibly difficult,” said Lee. “It takes a lot of courage, lots of sacrifices. Quite frankly, it takes a bit of luck as well. I always want to make sure I remember that, especially as I work with these next-generation AI founders. Because I also want this firm to be enduring, for it to outlive me … In good times and bad times, I want to remember that’s what we’re striving for. That it’s generational. That Seven Star Fashion was the first generation.”
And the new generation begins now.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
