Rui Ma is a Venture Partner with 500 Startups and the driving force behind their expansion into Greater China. She is responsible for sourcing angel and seed-stage venture deals for 500 Startups, with a 2014 focus on cross-border, early education, small business productivity, mobile advertising, and integrated hardware-software solutions. Rui is China born, Silicon Valley bred, Beijing based, and has a decade-long finance career. She began her career gaining experience at leading financial service firms, including CITIC Securities, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Deloitte. Prior to joining 500 Startups, Rui worked with The Raine Group, where she was an IPO advisor to Renren, China's largest social network. 500 Startups is a global early stage investment fund that provides early-stage companies with $25K to $250K. 500 Startups founded one of Silicon Valley's earliest and most successful accelerator programs, which connects founders with hundreds of experienced mentors around the world. They help companies succeed by focusing on excelling in the 3 Ds - Design, Data, and Distribution.