Star Investors Take a Stake in Hero Entertainment in a Move to Support the Game Publisher's Listing on China's New OTC Stock Exchange

BEIJING, Sept. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 16, 2015, Ying Shuling officially announced the establishment of Hero Entertainment, a Chinese mobile online game company, and named the members of the firm's boards of directors and supervisors.

Two of China's leading venture capital firms, Sequoia Capital and ZhenFund, in addition to Huasheng Capital, the fund put together by China Renaissance Partners, jointly invested in Hero Entertainment. The three firms, in their roles as the country's most influential equity investment firms for entrepreneurs, have invested in over 300 high-growth companies, including over 50 listed companies.

Sequoia Capital global managing partner Neil Shen, China Renaissance Partners founder Bao Fan and ZhenFund founder Xu Xiaoping all sit on the firm's boards of directors and supervisors.

Commenting on attracting so many star investors, Ying Shuling said, "Hero Entertainment has been very cautious in its choice of investors and partners. They must have the same goal and values, and be willing to work as a team to jointly build Hero Entertainment into a great Internet company. Each investor and partner is expected and had committed to a long-term cooperation and to jointly contributing to the firm's growth."

According to the announcement, Ying Shuling, Neil Shen, Bao Fan, Du Xinxin, Huang Shengli, Wu Dan and Zhang Luming will be key members of the new board of directors. Xu Xiaoping, Wang Xinwen and Wang Kun will join the board of supervisors.

Investments from the three star investment firms -- Sequoia Capital, ZhenFund and Huasheng Capital -- are strategic in nature, and, looking forward, the impact of their decisions to invest may have a lasting effect on the game industry as well as the capital markets. In addition to the board lineup led by Neil Shen, Bao Fan and Xu Xiaoping, Huang Shengli and Wu Dan, respectively stars in the capital and game sectors, will assume the roles of CFO and CIO, working together with Ying Shuling to take the firm to the next level.  

CFO Huang Shengli, formerly managing director of China Renaissance Partners, has extensive entrepreneurial and management experience in the Internet and new media sectors. He helped companies including Didi Chuxing, JD.com, momo and Kunlun, raise over US$800 million through private financing and led the two sectors' iconic asset reorganizations, including 7road.com and Yinhan Games. CIO Wu Dan, formerly vice president of ZhenFund, has been one of the most successful game investors of the past two years. On behalf of ZhenFund, he successfully led investments in several games including "Dark Blade", "Super Legend", "Crisis Action" and "MT Wai Chuan", as well as "Vainglory", the mobile game that garnered the most attention at the launch event for the Apple iPhone6.

Senior industry insiders commented that the star members of the boards of directors and supervisors of Hero Entertainment are all highly experienced individuals within the investment and game communities, reflecting the capital market's expectations of the firm.

The venture capital firms that are investing in Hero Entertainment are optimistic about the firm's growth prospects. Neil Shen said, "In a long term, we believe that under the leadership of Ying Shuling, the new team can make great strides in terms of the development of the mobile game sector and inject the sector with a burst of new energy."

China Renaissance Partners founder Bao Fan said, "China is not yet home to an internationally renowned game company. Realizing that achievement will require the entrepreneurs and the organization they represent to have the same aspirations, interests and skillsets as peers that have successfully mounted the international stage. Ying Shuling is an aficionado of sailing. This 'sailing journey' fully reflects his adventurous spirit and should open a new dialog between members of the game sector in China and their counterparts worldwide, and this is something we fully expect to see happen."

ZhenFund founder Xu Xiaoping expressed his confidence in Hero Entertainment, when he said, "Establishing Hero Entertainment is Ying Shuling's second go at starting a business from scratch. As a giant in the game community, and one who has a unique vision about what lies in store for the sector in China, we believe in his acute insight and excellent abilities in terms of working within a team. As investors and partners, we will aggressively support his mobile game and pan-entertainment portfolio."

SOURCE Hero Entertainment