Mingu Lee brings over a decade of senior operating experience from Samsung SDS America, where he served as Chief Business Officer scaling complex B2B technology solutions, giving him unusually deep hands-on experience for a venture investor. He serves as a bridge between Korean and U.S. tech ecosystems, helping Asian founders expand globally while connecting U.S. investors with Korean-founded companies through his Samsung roots and cultural understanding of both markets.
About their Fund
Cleveland Avenue
Sectors
Food & Ag, CPG / D2C, Retail Tech, Robotics, AI
Rounds
Seed - Series B+
Avg Check Size
$1M - S10M
Notable Investments
Founded and led by Don Thompson, the first Black CEO of McDonald's, Cleveland Avenue runs a $70M fund (CAST US) that is structurally mandated to deploy 75% of capital into Black- and Hispanic-owned companies, 75% on Chicago's South and West Sides, and 50% women-founded companies. Rather than acting as a passive capital provider, Cleveland Avenue pairs its food and beverage-focused investments with hands-on operating support delivered by a ~50-person team built around Thompson's deep restaurant-industry expertise.
Notable Fund
Investments
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Active in
Rounds
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Deeptech / Hardware
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Robotics
Biotech
+
12
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $2M
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Defense
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7
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
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$100K - $5M
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7
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$100K - $5M
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Biotech
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2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$250K - $2M
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Climate
Deeptech / Hardware
Materials
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4
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $1.5M
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7
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Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
$400K - $2M
Unknown
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Deeptech / Hardware
Robotics
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+
2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Seed
Unknown
~$750K
Unknown
Fintech
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2
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Unknown
Pre-Seed - Series A
Unknown
$250K-$1M
Unknown
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