VShojo, the VTuber agency that billed itself as “talent first,” is shutting down. VShojo CEO Justin “Gunrun” Ignacio made the announcement today on X writing, “I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us to this point.”
Earlier this week, VShojo came under fire as Ironmouse, the agency’s top performing VTuber, announced she was leaving the company over a missing $500k charity donation and her own unpaid funds. Her departure triggered a mass exodus of VShojo talent, with 12 of the company’s 13 creators officially announcing their own split from the company with some also claiming unpaid wages as their reason. Ignacio’s announcement alluded to VShojo’s financial difficulties.
“We raised around $11 million to pursue a bold, talent-first approach in VTubing,” the statement read. “However, despite all our efforts, the business failed to generate the revenue we needed to sustain that model, and eventually, we ran out of money.”
Ignacio also admitted that the funds raised by Ironmouse and intended for the Immune Deficiency Foundation had been spent by the company: “Additionally I acknowledge that some of the money spent by the company was raised in connection with talent activity which I later learned was intended for a charitable initiative.” Ignacio went on to write that he was confident that he’d be able to raise enough money to cover those costs. “We were unsuccessful in our fundraising efforts.”
Here’s the statement in full.