VShojo (officially VShojo, Inc.) is an American talent agency that focuses on promoting VTubercontent creators based in San Francisco, California. VShojo bills itself as a "talent first" agency, oriented towards providing resources (such as models, merchandising, and advertisement opportunities) to its talent.
Overview
CEO Justin "TheGunrun" Ignacio, a member of the team that founded Twitch, CTO Phillip "MowtenDoo" Fortunat, a content creator on YouTube, and COO Daniel "Apek" Sanders, a former digital media attorney, co-founded VShojo to promote and empower English-speaking VTubers.[1][2][3] It debuted on November 24, 2020, as one of the first VTuber companies based in the United States and the Western world.[1][2][3]
In October 2021, Ironmouse and Veibae were listed, for the first time, among the top 10 female streamers on Twitch based on hours watched.[4][5] On February 15, 2022, Ironmouse passed one million followers and 75,000 subscribers on Twitch, making her Twitch's most-subscribed female streamer.[6][7] On February 20, 2022, Ironmouse's Twitch subscription count surpassed 93,000 making her, at the time, the streamer with the most active Twitch subscriptions.[8]
In March 2022, VShojo raised $11 million in a funding round led by Anthos Capital, with goals to expand its focus on working with anime and gaming conventions on content and appearances by its talent, Ignacio's "IRL Backpack" project for mobile video streaming, and a collaboration with the mental health group Rise Above the Disorder.[9]
In July 2022 at Anime Expo, the company announced a new Japanese division, with its inaugural members including independent streamer Kson and Amemiya Nazuna.[10]
On April 26, 2023, VShojo announced via Twitter that Silvervale and Veibae would not be renewing their contracts,[11] with Nyanners following on April 30. In both cases, the streamers retained rights to the characters and other assets that they had developed while under VShojo.[12] A new VTuber for VShojo Japan, Henya the Genius, debuted on May 13, 2023.[13] GEEGA, a pre-existing VTuber, joined the agency on September 2.[14] VShojo's first male VTuber, Kuro Kurenai, debuted on September 30.[15] Another new VTuber for VShojo, Matara Kan, debuted just over two weeks later on October 15.[16] On December 29, VShojo announced that it had mutually agreed to end its contract with Amemiya Nazuna, effective December 31, with Nazuna retaining the rights to her character and assets.[17]
On April 17, 2024, another new VTuber for VShojo, Michi Mochievee, was announced for an April 20 debut.[18]
On November 14, 2024, VShojo revealed its first generation of VTubers, known as VShojo NOVA, with four members: Akatsuki Hotaru, Hestia Happiness, Okamoto Nagi, and Yutori Peke.[19] The four members had been teased in a series of four tweets, posted on both the main VShojo Twitter and the VShojo Japan Twitter, for four days leading up to the group's reveal. The group members' debut dates were not announced until the following day, with Akatsuki Hotaru and Hestia Happiness debuting on November 22, and Okamoto Nagi and Yutori Peke debuting on November 23.[20]
