Former E-sports leader, today’s business leader: Kelly Xu’s cross-border approach

“In the game, I don’t have to be bound by reality anymore. I can decide my direction and explore unknown fields.” – Kelly Xu

Kelly Xu was born in 1995 in a culturally rich family in Nanjing. Her father is a senior official in the education system, and her mother is a professor at the National People’s Congress and a painter at the China Artists Association. From a young age, she grew up under the dual influence of academia and art, living a seemingly planned elite life.

However, at the age of 13, her parents’ divorce completely shattered this peace. The changes in her family left her feeling lonely and confused. During this difficult period, a game console unexpectedly became her emotional sustenance. From the earliest black and white consoles, to later PlayStation and Nintendo consoles, she was exposed to classic games such as “The Legend of Zelda”, “Chinese Paladin”, and “Pokemon”. These games not only filled her emotional void, but also became her enlightenment to explore the digital world.

At first, games were just a way for her to escape reality, but she soon discovered their appeal – rigorous logic, clever strategies, and the meaning of teamwork fascinated her. She was not just a player, but also began to think about the rules and systems behind game design, gradually developing a strong interest in the digital world. For her, electronic games are no longer just entertainment, but a door to a wider field.

E-sports Enlightenment and the Road of Entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom

“E-sports is not only a competition of technology, but also a competition of wisdom and teamwork.” – Kelly Xu

In 2011, 16-year-old Kelly Xu went to study at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in the US. In an unfamiliar environment, loneliness and culture shock made her feel confused. By chance, she came into contact with “League of Legends” and was attracted by its teamwork and strategic confrontation charm. Soon, she participated in the school’s E-sports friendly match. In a crucial match, she chose the difficult hero “Blind Monk” and led the team to reverse the situation with precise operation and decisive decision-making. This victory not only made her recognized by her teammates, but also strengthened her love for E-sports.

In 2012, Kelly Xu transferred to Coventry University in the United Kingdom and found that although there were many E-sports enthusiasts in the school, there was a lack of organizational support. She decided to create a campus E-sports team to provide systematic training and competition opportunities. Despite the initial challenges of insufficient equipment, lack of venues, and unstable networks, Kelly Xu purchased equipment at her own expense, communicated with the school many times, and finally obtained training venues and financial support. She also wrote team plans, planned campus events, and gradually recognized E-sports on campus.

In 2013, the team participated in the United Kingdom College E-sports League for the first time. After the initial defeat, Kelly Xu organized a team review, analyzed the shortcomings, invited professional coaches to guide tactics, and humbly learned from strong teams. After adjustment, the team performed well in subsequent games. In a key game, they defeated strong opponents through carefully arranged tactics and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals. This victory not only made the team famous, but also attracted widespread media attention. Kelly Xu With excellent organizational skills and team leadership, she gradually emerged in the E-sports circle, laying the foundation for her future Career Development.

Kelly Xu’s E-sports investment and industrial transformation

(Kelly Xu took a photo with legendary esports players ‘Uzi’ and Tabe)

“I hope to provide a stage for young people with dreams, so that their talents can be seen by the world.” – Kelly Xu

In 2014, when Kelly Xu returned to China, the E-sports industry in China was in a period of explosive growth, but the social recognition of E-sports was still limited, and grassroots players lacked opportunities for development. Kelly Xu keenly realized that this was not only a pain point for the development of the industry, but also a huge business opportunity. She began to visit various parts of the country, especially focusing on grassroots E-sports teams and local events. She found that many outstanding players came from ordinary internet cafes without professional training equipment, and the teams lacked systematic management and resource support. In order to help these young people, Kelly Xu took the initiative to contact these teams, provide funding, purchase equipment, and introduce professional coaching teams for customized training.

In order to expand the exposure opportunities of players, Kelly Xu cooperates with local governments and enterprises to organize regional esports events in Hunan, Hubei and other places, and builds bridges for grassroots teams to professional competitions. Some of the teams she invested in gradually emerged in domestic and foreign competitions, and several players won awards in international competitions and became E-sports stars. This not only changed the fate of many young people, but also made Chinese E-sports more competitive on the global stage.

Kelly Xu is not only satisfied with the investment level. She knows that the long-term development of the industry requires institutionalized and professional support, so she actively participates in the planning and operation of e-sports events. She leads the organization of multiple national E-sports competitions, promotes the standardization of event rules, and introduces the operation mode of professional leagues. She also cooperates with educational institutions to advocate E-sports Vocational Education courses and cultivate more professional talents for the industry.

From investor to game developer

“Games are no longer just entertainment tools, but platforms that connect people and create value.” – Kelly Xu

Kelly Xu did not stop at being an investor and club operator. As an entrepreneur , she keenly realized that games are not only a carrier of competition, but also a broad platform combining technology and entertainment. In 2016, Kelly Xu decided to move from behind the scenes to the forefront and become a game developer, integrating emerging technologies into the entertainment field.

Inspired by the success of “Pokémon GO”, Kelly Xu aimed at the combination of LBS (location-based service) and AR (augmented reality) technology. She formed a team of top technical talents and game designers, invested months in research and development, and launched “Earth Invasion”. This game combines real geographical location with virtual world gameplay, allowing players to complete tasks on real streets and compete with other players for landmark ownership. “Earth Invasion” quickly attracted market attention after its launch. With unique gameplay and technological innovation, the game’s user base exceeded 1 million in just six months. What’s more, Kelly Xu ‘s team has built a unique business model by combining offline activities with online promotion through cooperation with merchants. This game has not only attracted players, but also attracted the cooperation of many brands, becoming a model of combining business and entertainment.

Building on the success of “Earth Invasion”, Kelly Xu continues to explore the potential of LBS + AR and launches “GoinGo” – a social game that combines geographic location, health data, and virtual pet cultivation. Unlike traditional games, “GoinGo” not only allows players to enjoy the fun of virtual cultivation, but also encourages players to improve their gaming experience through exercise by binding health data. The game has multiple social functions, and players can form teams to complete tasks together, and even organize offline activities in reality. This online and offline linkage model greatly enhances users’ sense of participation and stickiness.

More importantly, the business model of “GoinGo” has set a benchmark in the industry. Kelly Xu ‘s team successfully achieved diversified profits from advertising revenue, virtual item sales, and offline activities through brand linkage and merchant cooperation. At the same time, the team also used big data analysis to provide precise marketing plans for cooperative merchants, opening up a new business path in the gaming industry.

Foresight in the blockchain field

“Only when technology is understood and accepted by the public can it really play its value.” – Kelly Xu

The heat of the game has inspired Kelly Xu to think about “player value attribution”. In E-sports and games, players, as core participants, rarely truly enjoy the value of the content they create. This contradiction made her start to pay attention to blockchain technology, hoping to solve the problem of player value return through the “decentralization” concept of blockchain. In 2017, blockchain technology rose rapidly. Kelly Xu saw its huge potential in the gaming and social fields. She launched the blockchain-based game “Cryptodogs”. Each virtual pet in the game is a unique NFT that players can cultivate, trade, and even compete in the arena. Genesis Dog “is not only a game, but also a window for the public to understand blockchain and NFT. Through gamification, Kelly Xu successfully popularized complex technical concepts to young users.

Later, Kelly Xu founded ONO , a decentralized social platform based on blockchain. She believes that traditional social media has problems of data monopoly and privacy leakage, while blockchain can give users control over their own data. ONO adopts a new Incentive Mechanism, where users can receive corresponding rewards for every interaction and content on the platform. Data is stored on the chain to ensure security and transparency.

After ONO went online, the number of registered users exceeded 3.258 million in just 100 days, becoming the fastest growing decentralized social application at that time. Her innovative ideas and business model attracted the attention of global investors, and she received investment from well-known institutions such as Cheetah CEO Fu Sheng and Songhe Capital. In 2018, Kelly Xu was praised by Forbes as the “first female entrepreneur of Web3″, and her success set an example for female entrepreneurs around the world.

The new financial paradigm of UPTX

“Finance should not be a game for a few people. I hope that through technology and social interaction, more people can enjoy the pleasure of investment.” – Kelly Xu

From the organization of the E-sports team to the development of blockchain games, Kelly Xu has been exploring how “collaboration” and “value creation” can change the industry landscape. When she entered the financial field, these core concepts became her guide. She realized that many pain points in the investment world were similar to those in the E-sports industry when it started: information asymmetry, scattered resources, and lack of clear growth paths for individuals. She decided to use the strategic thinking and teamwork concepts learned from E-sports to build a financial community that can empower ordinary users.

In recent years, Kelly Xu founded UP Global , which spans the fields of finance, blockchain and digital assets. Its UPTX all-asset trading platform quickly emerged. UPTX is committed to providing users with trading services covering more than 6,000 assets such as stocks, foreign exchange, commodities, cryptocurrency, etc., and has launched an innovative CopyWise ™ intelligent investment copy system. Users can copy the trading strategies of top investors with one click, greatly reducing the technical threshold of investment. In October 2024, UPTX reached a strategic cooperation with Huawei, which marks the further development of UPTX in technology innovation, market expansion, compliance and security.

Kelly Xu: Cross-border Power

“Challenging the unknown is creating more possibilities.” – Kelly Xu

Kelly Xu ‘s story is a journey about breakthroughs and connections. She not only transformed E-sports from a hobby into a career path, providing grassroots players with opportunities to change their fate, but also provided a sustainable development platform for these players with her keen business vision and innovative thinking. As a successful entrepreneur , she explores fairness with blockchain technology, converts players’ efforts into real assets, and promotes the reshaping of the entire industry’s value. By creating UPTX , she transforms investment from a complex and obscure field into an experience full of collaboration and sharing, allowing ordinary people to participate in the creation of global wealth through digital assets.

From E-sports to blockchain to finance, Kelly Xu has demonstrated her fearlessness and innovation as an entrepreneur through continuous cross-border practice. She deeply understands the power of technology and collaboration to change the industry landscape and people’s lifestyles. This journey is not the end, but the beginning of continuous evolution, full of more possibilities and opportunities.