Virtual star of Porsche ads gets real venture backing

A Japanese startup whose virtual influencers have graced advertising campaigns for the likes of Porsche and others has raised US$1mil (RM4.1mil) in a seed round from Coral Capital. — Reuters

Aww Inc, a Japanese startup whose virtual influencers have graced advertising campaigns for the likes of Porsche and IKEA has raised US$1mil (RM4.1mil) in a seed round from Coral Capital.

The Tokyo-based company is building out a stable of digitally-generated celebrities and social media stars, with its Imma character commanding an audience of more than 250,000 on Facebook Inc’s Instagram. Imma, created in 2018, is a computer-generated face composited onto a photo of a real human model. Aww’s other virtual models include plusticboy and Ria.