Gold House

Hanson Li

SALT Partners Group, Founder, Managing Partner

In 2014, Hanson Li founded Salt Partners Group, a food, beverage, and restaurant group. Salt Partners
is the managing partner of:

  • – Crenn Dining Group (Atelier Crenn 3-Michelin Star, Petit Crenn, Bar Crenn 1-Michelin Star,
    Boutique Crenn)
  • – Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream (Food Network Top 5 ice cream in the country, 4 retail stores and
    product distributed nationwide)
  • – High-Proof (beverage group that owns the bars Horsefeather and Last Rites in San Francisco)
  • – Brown Sugar Kitchen (Chef Tanya Holland was 2017 Top Chef participant and has owned the iconic BSK in West Oakland for over 10 years)
  • – B-Side (bar and restaurant at SFJAZZ, the largest jazz performance venue on the US west coast)
  • – LocoL (fast food concept focused on underserved communities in the US)

Hanson was also the first investor/partner to Saison, a Michelin 3-Star restaurant in San Francisco and continue to be a partner at Saison Cellars. He’s also an investor and partner in Bacon Bacon, Michelin 1-star Maum in Palo Alto, and Sunday Boba Group (a JV between Chef Deuki Hong and The Boba Guys).

 

He’s an active advisor and investor of companies at the intersection of food and technology: PlateIQ, Territory Foods, Sufferfest Beer (sold to Sierra Nevada Brewing Company), Servy (sold to Resy, then AMEX), Pared, and Nomiku. He founded his first concept, Halcyon, in 2002 – now with 4 locations in Texas.

 

Before founding Salt Partners, Hanson was Managing Director at The Hina Group, a China focused investment bank and private equity firm. For 10 years, he advised companies in US and China as an investment banker and invested in Chinese growth companies as part of Hina’s private equity funds.

 

In 2004, Hanson earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was named a Siebel Scholar in recognition as one of the top 5 outstanding graduates in his class and graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar.

 

Prior to Stanford GSB, Hanson was a business manager at Capital One and Vice President at EqualFooting, a B2B/software company focused on small businesses.

 

In 1996, he earned a BA in Human Biology and MA in Sociology from Stanford University.

 

Originally from Hong Kong, Hanson grew up in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Rochester (NY), and Malaysia.  He is fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. He currently serves as director on the board of Center of Asia America Media and previously on the boards of Chinese American Community Foundation, Association of Asian American Investment Manager (AAAIM), and the Asia America MultiTechnology Association (AAMA).