Today, we are thrilled to announce the successful close of our second seed fund focused on early-stage investment in games and digital entertainment. Larger than its predecessor, Transcend II received universal support from existing limited partners while adding new investors including some of the world’s best known companies, family offices, and executives in gaming and finance. According to Pitchbook data, Transcend I was in the top IRR decile for all 2020 vintage venture funds.
Transcend began with a deliberate focus on partnering with the industry’s most ambitious and accomplished entrepreneurs to transcend the boundaries of video games and digital media to deliver against the colossal market potential of the space. Gaming is advantaged by almost every modern digital growth vector, at scale. As computing has evolved, costs have dropped, and access has broadened, the creative and commercial space for gaming has exploded around the world. Demographically, the preferred form of socializing and entertainment for Gen Z are video games. The gaming carrier wave is increasingly ubiquitous and its place in popular culture is pivotal. Transcend is positioned at the forefront of this vibrant industry. Some analysts estimate the video game industry will generate over $500 billion by 2028 and recent reports from McKinsey and Goldman Sachs note the key role of games in the next multi-trillion dollar evolution of computing. This is well understood by the world's biggest tech firms as evidenced by Microsoft’s record-breaking acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta, Netflix, Tencent, Sony, and Microsoft have over $229 billion in combined cash on their balance sheets and are evaluating additional deals in gaming.
Known for its audience-first orientation, Transcend has quickly established itself as the premier early-stage venture firm focused exclusively on digital entertainment. The audience is the one true compass in all of entertainment. As former operators with billions in revenue experience, our approach is rooted in decades of direct experience in the games industry reading that compass and building for those audiences. That long track record across defining franchises and entertainment companies informs our first principles approach to early stage investing and founder support in such a massive yet constantly changing space as gaming. This approach resonates strongly with the leading entrepreneurs in gaming who have chosen to work with Transcend. This includes major industry figures and award-winning developers of beloved franchises such as Fortnite, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Call of Duty, Diablo, Farmville, StarCraft, Fallout, Last of Us, Elder Scrolls, Spider Man, Borderlands, Guild Wars, and many more.
In the current economic environment, all of us at Transcend are gratified to continue growing our investor base and expand the Transcend platform and ecosystem. While staying true to the winning strategy of Fund I, we took the opportunity to increase Fund II slightly to around $60 million. We are immensely proud and appreciative of the trust and confidence placed in Transcend by both our exceptional investor group and the visionary founders who have selected us to be their partner.
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.