Superplastic, a startup that has created and developed a series of virtual characters has raised $20 million. The investment was led by Amazon’s Alexa Fund.
This strategic investment will see Superplastic and its various synthetic celebrities collaborate on a new animated comedy series with Amazon Studios. Superplastic also sells numerous toys of its character creations, in the past, the company has partnered with Mercedes-Benz’ for a two-part animated short.
Superplastic characters have their own TikTok and Instagram platforms, with the likes of its Janky and Guggimon characters having over 10 million followers on TikTok. These platforms can be used to promote other brands and events. Soon they could be coming to streams and Amazon’s Whole Foods Market.
Superplastic has also released NFTs in the past, as part of building the brand’s universe. The NFTs were intended to be released in episodes, with each being connected to one of its star characters. One charter, Dayzee even appeared at Paris Hilton’s bridal shower event.
A bigger platform for Superplastic
In addition to the new animated comedy series, it is expected that these virtual characters may also be used to help with advertisements and promoting products. According to Crunchbase, Superplastic has raised a total of $67 million in funding over nine rounds. Other big names such as Sony, Animoca, Alphabet and Kako have been a part of recent Series A funding.
Superplastic’s founder and CEO, Paul Budnitz commented that “Amazon is everywhere. As an IP company, to me, it’s interesting what we can do with Whole Foods.” Budnitz believes that Amazon will act as a perfect partner for Superplastic’s future ambitions.
The digital world is an ever-growing space that most people are a part of in some way, the younger generation is also particularly interconnected with virtual spaces. Influencers have become an incredibly prominent way for brands to advertise themselves through sponsorships, however, real people make mistakes and sometimes it can be a risk to endorse someone. This is where virtual influencers come in and are increasingly on the rise.
Virtual characters
A virtual influencer can live on forever, they won’t make silly mistakes that perhaps a real person would, which runs the risk of impacting their image and brand. In addition, a virtual influencer can be in more than one place at any given time. Virtual influencers such as Polar have accumulated millions of views on YouTube.
While Amazon is already a giant company they are yet to dive into the world of Instagram or TikTok accounts which in this age, could be seen as a missed opportunity. However, rather than directly having their own accounts, they could utilise the likes of characters Dayzee or Janky and Guggimon to connect with the younger generation.
Paige Cook is a writer with a multi-media background. She has experience covering video games and technology and also has freelance experience in video editing, graphic design, and photography. Paige is a massive fan of the movie industry and loves a good TV show, if she is not watching something interesting then she's probably playing video games or buried in a good book. Her latest addiction is virtual photography and currently spends far too much time taking pretty pictures in games rather than actually finishing them.
