The Splice 🧬 Ready Player Me Raises $13M for Universal Avatars
Plus the case for unconventional virtual influencers and why Ad Age says virtual influencers are important for the metaverse
Good afternoon!
Welcome back to The Splice 🧬 by VirtualHumans.org: a weekly newsletter curating the latest news, developments, and insights in the virtual influencer space.
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🧬 Core Strands from This Week
The Case for Non-Human Digital Characters
🔎 The Synopsis: If you thought hyperrealistic human virtual influencers were the only ones with massive followings, then think again. Cover star Nobody Sausage has over 15 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
🧬 The Splice: Nobody Sausage has an impressive engagement rate of 6.8% — higher than Miquela, Imma, and Noonoouri’s rates combined. The reason? Fun digital characters like Nobody Sausage give viewers a welcome break from reality and offer bite-sized entertainment to their fans.
CEO Timmu Tõke on ‘Ready Player Me’ Raising $13M to Expand their Universal Avatar Platform for the Metaverse
🔎 The Synopsis: Cross-platform avatar creator Ready Player Me recently closed $13M in a round of Series A funding. “Our mission is to build a more connected Metaverse by building virtual avatars that are portals and travel between many virtual worlds,” Timmu Tõke, CEO of Ready Player Me, tells us in an exclusive interview.
🧬 The Splice: People are beginning to recognize that the utility for avatars goes far beyond video games. As virtual spaces grow in popularity and become a part of our daily lives, having a single avatar that can go across platforms like VRChat to games and more will make exploring the metaverse easier than ever.
🔭 What We’re Looking at This Week
Why Virtual Influencers In The Metaverse Will Be The Future CGI Brand Tastemakers
🔑 Key Quote: “In the same way that TikTok and Instagram stars can better engage with audiences who crave real-world content from creators that look like them, virtual influencers can better provide the experiences that users desire in the metaverse, such as world-building, cross-platform interactivity and leveraging augmented and virtual-reality technology.” — Asa Hiken, Ad Age
🧬 The Splice: If anyone can guide brands looking to explore the metaverse, then it’s virtual influencers. While they already prove adept at sponsoring real-world products, imagine the possibilities when digital goods become more commonplace.
Best,
VirtualHumans.org
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Insights by Makena Rasmussen, Christopher Travers, and Astrid Hiort.