US-based VShojo VTuber Group Debuts

VShojo VTuber Group aims to bridge gap between Virtual Entertainers and Brands

The VTuber community saw the launch of VShojo, an agency for virtual stars based in the US, last November 24. VShojo prides itself as a “a talent-first VTuber company, dedicated to the growth and success of its members“.

VShojo’s first generation

The VShojo roster introduces the re-debut of active virtual personalities Projekt Melody, Ironmouse, Nyatasha Nyanners, Silvervale, and Zentreya as well as VTubers Froot (formerly known as Apricot, debuted on November 27) and Hime Hajime, whose debut is yet to be announced.

Prior to VShojo, Melody, Ironmouse, Nyanners, Silvervale and Zentreya collaborated in various videos online, such as LewdCast. Calm-voiced Nyanners is a popular personality on YouTube prior to her entry as a VTuber with her covers of The Tiny Salmon Song, Mine’s not hot and Old Town Road. Melody is regarded among the circles as the first 3D rendered camgirl who amassed a following in her first three days of streaming. Zentreya on the other hand founded the Twitch Team Virtual Streamers Worldwide (VSW). Silvervale is known for her horror game play-throughs on Twitch.

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VShojo as a bridge between VTubers and brands

VShojo’s role is to be a bridge between its VTubers and the brands. It will provide the talents sponsorship opportunities, technical and legal/public relations support as well as helping them expand their reach through social media and merchandise assistance and more, all while giving them complete freedom.

To know more about VShojo, we got in touch with its Chief Executive Officer Justin “GunRun” Ignacio, who is also part of Twitch’s founding team prior to building the venture together with its Chief Technology Officer Philip “MowtenDoo” Fortunat, for a quick Q&A:

Anime Corner (AC): You’ve mentioned in your interview with The Hollywood Reporter that you’ve streamlined the process for VTubers and brands, may we know from your perspective what specifically are the challenges both VTubers and brands have to face prior to building this?

Justin “GunRun” Ignacio: While working with VTubers to grow their channels, I noticed that brands were not aware of the VTubing space even though it has a significantly large audience. Our goal is to help the VTuber community understand their value by educating brands and potential sponsors about the size of the VTubing market and the impact they can make given its incredibly supportive fandom.

AC: Also prior to building VShojo, most of your talents are independent. How was it easy/hard to get them in the fold?

Ignacio: I have been connected with the livestreaming community since I worked on the launch of Twitch in 2011 and during this time I have been both a technical and marketing resource to many content creators, including VTubers and their VTubing friends. Once it became clear that VTubers were not getting the same opportunities as traditional livestreamers, yet often attracting larger audiences, it inspired us to launch VShojo.

In addition to already being friends with many of our roster, we worked closely with them to ensure our business model was aligned with their goals and expectations.

AC: Can you let us in on the group’s upcoming plans, if any?

Ignacio: Our immediate plans are to start connecting with brands in order to educate them on the industry and lineup sponsorships and other activations. We’re also looking into how we can push the VTuber collaboration content forward with our low latency HD streaming tech.

In addition, you can expect more highlight uploads on YouTube and in other languages!

We would like to thank VShojo for accommodating our brief contact, and we look forward to its upcoming activities.

Photos from VShojo as sent to PRTimes / Illustrations by TSCR