When Aidan Karabaich and Anthony Leung left Riot to found Singularity 6, they did so with the ambition to make socially transformative online experiences for as broad an audience as possible. Their creative and commercial vision dovetailed with our own market view at Transcend.
While very early, Anthony and Aidan had an exceptionally clear direction for a beautiful, welcoming place for us all to laugh, play, and connect. Behind the scenes, their fluency with the complex systems, technology, and social engineering necessary to underpin the workings of a complex online community was striking. As I noted in the launch announcement for Transcend:
“Such communities have of course been evolving since the earliest days of computing with the humble text MUDs of yesteryear giving way to the multi-platform blockbusters of today. Despite all the advances however, true mass market adoption is still quite rare. Even the largest franchises in the industry are often carefully targeted to appeal to narrowly defined interest groups and designs with the broadest appeal tend to be just as easy to put down as they are to pick up. Crafting experiences that are not only beloved for years but approachable, deep, and meaningful is extraordinarily difficult. But, the opportunity to transcend those boundaries is the very real promise of now. It is also the origin and namesake of our new firm.”
Therefore, the mission of Singularity 6 to create places where you feel like you truly belong and to leverage technology and games to bring us closer together was one that deeply resonated with us as both players and investors.
My partners and I are excited to welcome Singularity 6 to the Transcend portfolio and very much look forward to working alongside the team as they craft their first world. You might consider doing so as well - they are hiring!
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.