Yi Ren

Yi Ren is the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and a Board member at SmartNews, Inc., a prominent news aggregation company.1 Here's a comprehensive overview of his background and role:

Professional Experience

Yi Ren has an extensive career in the technology industry, with experience spanning across the United States, China, and Japan - the world's top three GDP countries.1 His core strengths lie in strategy formulation and business development, with significant experience in product development within the mobile gaming and media industries.1

Current Roles at SmartNews::

• Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) since May 2019
• Board Member since May 2019
• Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since November 2022

In his role as CSO, Yi Ren manages the entire corporate-related organization, including finance, legal, human resources, and strategy departments. As of November 1, 2023, he also assumed responsibility for all business-related organizations and revenue, overseeing marketing, content, advertising, and new business models.1

Previous Experience

Before joining SmartNews, Yi Ren held several notable positions:

• Co-founder and CEO of DeNA China (2014-2019)
• Vice President at DeNA China (2011-2014)
• Executive Officer at DeNA (2015-2017)
• Business Producer at Dream Incubator (2009-2011)

Education

Yi Ren holds degrees from the prestigious University of Tokyo:

• Master of Engineering in Biochemistry (2007-2009)
• Bachelor of Engineering in Biochemistry (2003-2007)

Languages

Yi Ren is multilingual, with proficiency in:

• English (professional working proficiency)
• Chinese (native or bilingual proficiency)
• Japanese (native or bilingual proficiency)

Strategic Vision

At SmartNews, Yi Ren has been instrumental in shaping the company's unique approach to news aggregation. He emphasizes the importance of providing balanced information in an increasingly polarized news environment.2 Under his leadership, SmartNews has focused on:

1. Offering "News From All Sides" to broaden users' perspectives
2. Delivering important societal information as "Must Read" content
3. Focusing on content discovery beyond users' typical interests
4. Maintaining an unbiased approach to news distribution

Yi Ren's vision for SmartNews extends globally, with the aim of delivering quality information worldwide through various formats, including text, videos, and graphics.2