Asset Manager

Updated:

Imaginal Seeds

Imaginal Seeds operates from Germany as a generalist investment company founded by Unsu Lee, a third-generation family steward and film director, and...

Imaginal Seeds logo

Imaginal Seeds

Imaginal Seeds operates from Germany as a generalist investment company founded by Unsu Lee, a third-generation family steward and film director, and Elisa Kang, a former impact advisor at a Swiss bank. The firm's architecture blends direct real-asset holdings with narrative-change investments through its film portfolio. Lee's family-wealth background and Kang's governance experience — she served three terms on the board of AWARE Singapore — inform a mandate that treats land, media, and community-governance structures as a single integrated allocation. The firm's deployment falls into three observable buckets: regenerative land assets, Indigenous land partnerships, and creative-media productions. Tangible holdings include a residential permaculture property in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and strategic Indigenous lands in the Amazon region of Brazil. On the media side, Imaginal Seeds maintains a production portfolio spanning Singapore and the United States, consistent with Lee's background as a filmmaker and with the vehicle's stated interest in shifting cultural narratives. The firm navigates deal flow through a network that includes Toniic, the global impact-investing network for high-net-worth individuals, and Mana Impact, where business partner Patti Chu serves. Structurally, Imaginal Seeds extends through multiple associated entities rather than a single balance sheet. Adam Milgrom, a partner at the Australian impact fund Giant Leap, co-invests through the Imaginal Seeds Aotearoa Trust, which holds the New Zealand property. A separate foundation relationship exists with Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures, a collective working on education and systemic alternatives. This arrangement creates a constellation of for-profit, trust-based, and philanthropic vehicles — each targeting a different layer of the ecological and social transition the principals are engineering. What distinguishes the firm is not scale but mandate design. Unlike conventional family offices that segregate impact into a carve-out allocation, Imaginal Seeds embeds its regenerative thesis across every asset class it touches — land, film, and Indigenous partnership structures — without a separate commercial portfolio. Kang's previous board work in women's rights advocacy and the firm's formal participation in Toniic reinforce a governance model where investment decisions are inseparable from the political and ecological contexts of the assets.

General information

Firm type

Generalist

Year founded

AUM

Undisclosed

Location

Region

Europe

Country

Germany

City

Corporate office

Germany

Principals

Unsu Lee

Founder

Elisa Kang

Founder

Adam Milgrom

Co-Investor

Sector focus

ClimateTechAgriTech & FoodTechMedia & Entertainment

Frequently asked questions

Who runs investment decisions at Imaginal Seeds?

The firm is led by co-founders Unsu Lee and Elisa Kang. Lee brings a film-director background alongside multigenerational family-wealth stewardship, while Kang previously worked as an impact advisor at a Swiss bank and served multiple terms on the board of AWARE Singapore, a women's-rights organization. Investment decisions appear to flow through the two founders, with external co-investors and business partners — such as Adam Milgrom at Giant Leap and Patti Chu at Mana Impact — operating through separate affiliated trusts and entities.

How does Imaginal Seeds source regenerative-agriculture and land deals?

The firm's land holdings include a permaculture property in Aotearoa, New Zealand, held through the Imaginal Seeds Aotearoa Trust, and Indigenous strategic lands in the Brazilian Amazon. Sourcing appears to rely on the principals' direct networks rather than institutional channels. The Toniic impact-investing network and the Mana Impact partnership provide additional origination pathways. Kang's governance experience in Singapore and Lee's creative-industry ties further color the firm's access to non-traditional deal flow.

Is Imaginal Seeds a single-family office or an asset manager?

Imaginal Seeds is structured as an investment company, not a classic single-family office, though founder Unsu Lee's third-generation family wealth forms a core capital base. The firm operates multiple legal vehicles — a German investment entity, a New Zealand trust, and relationships with a philanthropic collective — which distinguishes it from a unified family-office balance sheet. This constellation allows it to behave as a generalist asset manager deploying across real assets, media, and community-governance structures.

Does Imaginal Seeds take fund commitments or only direct investments?

Based on the firm's known holdings — a direct residential permaculture property, direct Indigenous land positions, and an in-house film-production slate — Imaginal Seeds operates through direct investments and co-investment vehicles rather than fund-of-funds commitments. The Aotearoa trust co-invests alongside Adam Milgrom's Giant Leap partnership. No publicly disclosed fund commitments have been identified.

Where does the underlying wealth come from?

Founder Unsu Lee is described as a third-generation steward of family wealth, though the specific industry or liquidity event that generated the family's capital has not been publicly disclosed. Elisa Kang's background is institutional — Swiss-bank impact advisory and nonprofit board governance — suggesting the core capital base originates from the Lee family's intergenerational holdings.

How are Imaginal Seeds' for-profit and philanthropic activities separated?

The firm's architecture spans multiple entities with different mandates. The for-profit investment company operates from Germany, while the Imaginal Seeds Aotearoa Trust holds land in New Zealand. Separately, the firm supports Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures, a collective focused on education and systemic alternatives. Kang's board service at AWARE Singapore adds a further nonprofit governance layer. These structures are legally distinct but philosophically aligned under the founders' regenerative thesis.

What is Imaginal Seeds' posture on co-investments alongside external managers?

The firm co-invests through at least one known vehicle: the Imaginal Seeds Aotearoa Trust, where Adam Milgrom — a partner at the Australian impact fund Giant Leap — participates as a co-investor. The Mana Impact relationship, through business partner Patti Chu, suggests further co-investment openness within the Toniic network. The firm's deal structures appear designed to attract mission-aligned co-investors rather than passive LP capital.

Profile maintained by using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.

Need institutional-grade insight on asset managers?

Altss delivers:

Principals with verified direct contactsAllocation history by asset classOSINT-derived deal signals
Book a demo

Prefer a guided tour?

We’ll walk you through:

Interactive funding timelinesCustom mandate & allocation filters
Book a demo

More Generalist profiles