I have known Andrew Sheppard for two decades. During that time, he has regularly blown me away with his ability to read digital entertainment market dynamics and understand the implications faster than anyone else. Andrew is one of those rare people that always seems to not only know where the puck is going but what will happen when it gets there. We have worked together a number of times on the same and opposite teams. He is a master product person, funny, authentic, and deeply insightful. It gives me great pleasure therefore to welcome Andrew to Transcend as our second General Partner.
Well known in the games industry for his key contributions piloting the Kabam studio system through multiple headwinds and pivots, Andrew is a strategist and seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience building, managing and advising multi-billion dollar consumer businesses. His extensive resume includes executive roles at EA, Gamespot, Kabam, GREE, and Rakuten Games among others.
Andrew has directly experienced and built against all of the major shifts in digital entertainment of the last several decades across online media, social games, subscriptions, free-to-play, console games, online/PC games, and mobile games. His current areas of focus include cross-platform games, next-gen social gaming, cloud gaming, influencer communities, and messenger games.
We look forward to mobilizing his years of game industry experience and expertise in service of our founders and fund!
About Transcend Fund
Transcend is a top performing early stage venture capital firm that partners with the boldest founders in the industry to collaboratively build the future of interactive entertainment.
Founded in San Francisco by gaming veterans, the Transcend portfolio features a preeminent group of high growth digital entertainment companies around the world.
More information about Transcend can be found on our website. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest news from around the Transcend ecosystem.
About Shanti Bergel
Shanti is the founding partner of Transcend and a 30 year game industry veteran.
His global operating experience spans every major platform and business model transition of the last several decades and is animated by a career-long fascination with how changes in technology and distribution affect products, services, and communities.
Shanti is a recognized member of the Techcrunch List, speaks fluent Japanese, and is a frequent speaker on early stage investment, M&A, and strategic partnerships in digital entertainment.