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Transcend Fund
Transcend Fund is an early-stage VC investing globally in games and digital entertainment, led by 30-year game industry veteran Shanti Bergel.
Transcend Fund
Transcend Fund operates as an early-stage venture capital firm focused exclusively on games and digital entertainment. Led by founding Managing Director Shanti Bergel, the firm brings together a partnership of seasoned executives whose careers span three decades of platform transitions, major publishing houses, and global financial institutions. Managing Directors Andrew Sheppard and Brett Krause add leadership experience from Kabam, GREE, Rakuten Games, JPMorgan, and Citi, while the investment team includes former professional esports players. The firm deploys capital into studios and platforms building the next generation of interactive entertainment. Its portfolio spans mobile gaming, cross-platform titles, cloud gaming, virtual reality, blockchain-based experiences, and AI-powered tools for creators. Confirmed investments include a community-first gaming platform serving Asia and Latin America, a mixed-reality social gaming startup, an AI-driven chess experience, and a blockchain gaming platform, among others. The fund pursues a global mandate, sourcing deals from North America, Europe, and Asia, with investment professionals physically located in London, Los Angeles, and Zurich. Transcend Fund discloses five investment professionals, including two Principals with gaming backgrounds — one a former top-percentile Dota player and another a former professional StarCraft competitor. The firm operates additional offices in London, Los Angeles, and Zurich, complementing its San Mateo base. Managing Director Brett Krause joined the fund after serving as Chief Investment Officer at FunPlus, the independent developer behind the esports franchise FPX, where he mobilized capital for game studios across Asia. The firm’s structural edge lies in a partnership built entirely from game-industry operators and buy-side investment bankers — not career VCs. Every senior investor has shipped or financed games at scale, giving the fund a sourcing network that reaches into developer communities, major publishers, and Asian markets simultaneously. That dual fluency — production and finance — shapes a diligence and portfolio-support model that competes more on studio-level operational advice than on capital alone.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Mateo
Corporate office
San Mateo, CA, United States
Additional offices
London, United Kingdom · Los Angeles, CA, United States · Zurich, Switzerland
Principals
Shanti Bergel
Managing Director
Andrew Sheppard
Managing Director
Brett Krause
Managing Director
Sikander Chahal
Principal
Lirui Ding
Principal
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Transcend Fund?
Investment decisions are led by the three Managing Directors: founder Shanti Bergel, Andrew Sheppard, and Brett Krause. Bergel is a 30-year game industry veteran, Sheppard held executive roles at Kabam and GREE, and Krause was formerly President of JPMorgan China and CIO at FunPlus. The investment team also includes two Principals, Sikander Chahal and Lirui Ding, who support sourcing and diligence.
How does Transcend Fund source proprietary deal flow?
The firm sources deals through the deep operator networks of its investment team. Managing Directors have built and shipped games across multiple platform eras, and team members include former professional esports players. Brett Krause’s experience running JPMorgan China and investing at FunPlus provides direct access to Asian developer communities that are harder to reach from a US-only base.
Does Transcend Fund participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Based on available public information, Transcend Fund makes direct early-stage venture investments rather than committing capital as a limited partner to other funds. Its portfolio page lists only operating companies in gaming and digital entertainment. No fund-of-funds activity is disclosed.
What investment stages does Transcend Fund typically target?
The firm targets early-stage investments, as stated on its website. Its portfolio includes pre-launch studios, early platform builders, and founders programs, consistent with a seed-to-Series A focus within the games and digital entertainment sector.
Which sectors does Transcend Fund explicitly avoid?
Transcend Fund’s public disclosures show exclusive focus on games and digital entertainment, which implies it avoids sectors outside that vertical. No investments outside gaming, interactive media, or creator tools appear in its portfolio. The firm does not list enterprise SaaS, deep tech, or life sciences as areas of activity.
Where do the firm's investment professionals operate from?
The investment team works across four cities: Shanti Bergel and Sikander Chahal are based in London, Andrew Sheppard is in Los Angeles, Brett Krause operates from Zurich, and Lirui Ding is also in London. The firm’s headquarters is listed in San Mateo, California.
What is Transcend Fund's known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
Publicly available information does not specify a formal co-investment program. However, the backgrounds of its Managing Directors — including M&A leadership at JPMorgan and Activision Blizzard strategic development experience on the investment team — suggest the firm is capable of structuring syndicated rounds when needed.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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