Attracted seed investment from Sasa Sa, Busan Changgyeong, and other companies, and selected as Free Tips

The Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center (CEO Yongwoo Kim, hereinafter referred to as Busan Creative Economy) has been discovering promising local companies, supporting their growth, and investing in them for the past five years.

Last December, Busan Changgyeong's direct investment company, Sasa Sa (CEO Inmo Jeong), secured a total of KRW 650 million in seed investment, including approximately KRW 100 million in direct investment, through the 'Busan Unicorn Startup Private Investment Association', completing the initial investment stage (SEED round).

With support from Busan Changgyeong, Sasasa was selected for Pre-TIPS, a technology startup support program run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, securing commercialization funding. Furthermore, Sasasa signed four consulting contracts with large sauna facilities in Changwon, demonstrating its marketability through sales and customer acquisition within just three months of establishment.

Sasa offers premium sauna solutions that combine IoT-based operational automation technology with wearable bio-data-linked AI protocols. Through this, the company is developing solutions that reduce operating costs compared to existing facilities, enhance customer lock-in, and quantify wellness experiences and benefits.

CEO Jeong In-mo is an entrepreneur with full startup experience, having developed the notification app 'I'm School' while attending KAIST and sold it after attracting 4 billion won in investment.

Based on this seed investment and the selection of Freetips, Sasasa plans to open flagship wellness sauna locations in major commercial districts in Seoul in the first half of 2026 and launch a full-scale B2B all-in-one operational SaaS solution for saunas and spas, leveraging collected data. This strategy aims to grow into a technology-driven global wellness brand.

Busan Changgyeong CEO Kim Yong-woo said, “We are promoting local economic revitalization by discovering and investing in innovative wellness companies,” and added, “We hope that Sasasa will grow into a unicorn company that leads the digital transformation of the sauna industry.”

• See more related articles