Welcome, Lirui Ding: Former eSports Pro, Game Strategy, and M&A Expert

I am very pleased to welcome Lirui Ding to Transcend. He joins us from the Strategy & Corporate Development team at Activision Blizzard with 15 years experience in the industry and is passionate to partner with visionary founders to bring exciting digital entertainment to a global audience.

A former ranked esports player himself, Lirui worked with the Executive Leadership team at Activision Blizzard on a range of pivotal initiatives from long range slate and game development planning to marketing and franchise reviews. He also partnered with cross-functional teams to formulate investment strategy and identify M&A and investment opportunities.

Before Activision Blizzard, Lirui was a consultant at LEK Consulting, KPMG, and Value Partners for 10 years, advising clients on operations, M&A, and investment strategy in the games industry with $10B+ in combined transaction value. He was a competitive RTS and FPS player for four years, ranking in the global Top 20 for Warcraft III FFA and clocking over 400 APM on average. Lirui holds a MSc in International Management from King's College London and a BSc in Business & Management from Renmin University of China.

Outside of work, Lirui maintains his affection for esports, though now as a spectator rather than a player. He swims almost every day. We are thrilled to have Lirui with us at Transcend and look forward to the impact of his contributions to the firm and around the portfolio. Welcome, Lirui!

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ABOUT SHANTI BERGEL

Shanti is the founding partner of Transcend and a 35 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.

ABOUT TRANSCEND

Transcend is a top quartile early-stage venture firm that backs AI-native entrepreneurs building the next generation of interactive entertainment. In a $263B global industry where AI is rewriting the economics, we partner with the founders leading that shift from pre-seed through Series A. Founded in 2020 by veterans with 70+ years of operator experience and $10B+ in lifetime revenue. Learn more at transcend.fund and follow us on LinkedIn.