- Figments is a startup building the next version of the WWE for eSports
- They create virtual characters with fictional storylines who compete in popular video games in front of live audiences on platforms like Twitch
- Their first character, Neralis, is a robot designed to excel at Super Smash Brothers Ultimate and has gained a large following through viral events
- They have developed unique technology, including a virtual production tool, to create these characters and their storylines
- COVID-19 forced them to go remote, but it allowed them to collaborate with talent from anywhere in the world
- They use Unreal Engine and ARKit on iPhones for their content creation
- They have partnered with Reebok and Guayaquil Yerba Mate to integrate digital products with their virtual characters on live streams
- They are a small startup with a vision to become a new media entertainment company that appeals to fans of games and eSports across various platforms
- They are hiring for positions in Unreal engine, graphic design, video editing, technical art, and marketing.

Figments (S19) gives a tech talk on their gaming startup, business opportunities and open roles.

Watch all the talks and create a profile on YC's Work at a Startup to connect with founders and find your next role:

https://www.workatastartup.com/events/gaming-tech-talks-2020

I'm the co-founder and CEO of Figments with my brother Scott.

And we're building the next version of the WWE for eSports.

We went through YC summer of 2019, and I think 1 of the most fun and incredible things about this experience was learning about how to tell the story of our company to other people.

And I'm really excited to tell you that story right now.

But my favorite back and forth with the partners at YC was around the idea of just leading off by saying we're building something That's pretty crazy.

So it's the next version of the WWE for eSports.

And we're doing this by creating brand new virtual characters with fictional storylines who play eSports.

So Unlike wrestlers who body slam each other on TV, our characters compete at the most popular video games in front of gigantic live audiences on Twitch.

This robot with a jet pack here, its name is Neralis.

It's a robot created to crush humanity at Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

It's actually 1 of the best in the world.

So over the course of a few months this summer, we grew Neralis into a partner streamer on Twitch and almost 10,000 subscribers on YouTube through a viral event in the fighting game community called Beat the Robot.

And here's a trailer that shows off a little bit of what that experience was like.

In order to create characters like Neralis, we had to build unique technology, specifically a virtual production tool for our talent and content team.

These tools that we put together, they mix live streaming video and audio pipelines with the front end of motion capture technology.

And when COVID hit, initially, we're based in Los Angeles.

We came here after YC to build a great in-house storytelling studio or a company in the way we envision it.

Sort of looks like a mix of game development studio, content company, and talent agency.

We wanted to build that culture in-house, but when COVID hit, we had to figure out how do we take this all remote.

It was actually a blessing in disguise because while the challenges were kind of nightmarish to figure out, when we came out on the front end of that, we realized now we're able to work with talent that's not just located in the Los Angeles area.

We can remotely collaborate with anyone in the world as long as there's a high-speed internet connection.

And so we built our technology in a really performer-friendly and scalable way.

We basically said, hey, we want to do this in a way where nobody has to go to large motion capture stages.

You can create the content for these characters and their storylines within the constraints of your home office or streaming room at home.

We basically wanted to get out of Talon's way and say, hey, you focus on take a page from what Emma was talking about, creating the drama of a stream, creating something that's going to be entertaining and that's going to build a community of followers around your character and around multiple characters as we expand.

So we do a lot of work in Unreal Engine creating this app.

We use ARKit on iPhones, 1 of our major technologies that we're working with.

And I've got a little video that kind of shows off the features of the app you can take a look at.

And this is something that we're actively hiring to continue building these tools out, because they enable us to create content that really couldn't previously, really hasn't been able to, hasn't previously existed, primarily due to the fact that we can use real-time game engines for live animation and mocap.

If you're familiar with or been paying attention to what Lucasfilm has been doing on the front end of this with the Mandalorian.

We're using many of the same features and technologies in order to fuel our content creation.

So what we're able to do with all this is, as a result of our early stage production, we were able to partner with Reebok, actually, thanks to a relationship we've gotten a great friendship with another YC company.

We'll be giving like a 1 minute pitch later called Athlane that pairs streamers with brands.

Reebok was really excited about the idea that they could integrate digital products in a new way with virtual characters and get them integrated on the live stream.

So here's a video of Neralis showing off his new classic leather Legacy shoes on stream.

And then that, once other brands heard about this, they got excited and that led to a partnership with Guayaquil Yerba Mate that took this a little bit further.

We're still a really small early stage startup.

And what's next on our agenda is launching more characters.

We're able to do quite a bit with a remotely distributed team.

I think our values at our core, we are storytellers and content creators, and we're building a giant, crazy vision of the future, new media entertainment company that tells stories that appeal to people who are fans of games and eSports on Twitch and YouTube and new social platforms like TikTok and platforms that I'm sure don't exist now but will be really important in the future.

We're hiring for positions across the board from Unreal engine to graphic design, video editing, technical art, and marketing.

So if you think this is the kind of crazy story that is meant for you, we definitely would love to hear from you.


Speaker 0: My name is Jay Rosenkranz. I'm the co-founder and CEO of Figments with my brother Scott. And we're building the next version of the WWE for eSports. We went through YC summer of 2019, and I think 1 of the most fun and incredible things about this experience was learning about how to tell the story of our company to other people. And I'm really excited to tell you that story right now.

But my favorite back and forth with the partners at YC was around the idea of just leading off by saying we're building something That's pretty crazy. So it's the next version of the WWE for eSports. And we're doing this by creating brand new virtual characters with fictional storylines who play eSports. So Unlike wrestlers who body slam each other on TV, our characters compete at the most popular video games in front of gigantic live audiences on Twitch. This robot with a jet pack here, its name is Neralis.

It's our first character. It's a robot created to crush humanity at Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. It's insanely good at the game. It's actually 1 of the best in the world. And it is a hilarious trash talker.

So over the course of a few months this summer, we grew Neralis into a partner streamer on Twitch and almost 10,000 subscribers on YouTube through a viral event in the fighting game community called Beat the Robot. And here's a trailer that shows off a little bit of what that experience was like. So Let's go back to here. In order to create characters like Neralis, we had to build unique technology, specifically a virtual production tool for our talent and content team. These tools that we put together, they mix live streaming video and audio pipelines with the front end of motion capture technology.

And when COVID hit, initially, we're based in Los Angeles. We came here after YC to build a great in-house storytelling studio or a company in the way we envision it. Sort of looks like a mix of game development studio, content company, and talent agency. We wanted to build that culture in-house, but when COVID hit, we had to figure out how do we take this all remote. It was actually a blessing in disguise because while the challenges were kind of nightmarish to figure out, when we came out on the front end of that, we realized now we're able to work with talent that's not just located in the Los Angeles area.

We can remotely collaborate with anyone in the world as long as there's a high-speed internet connection. And so we built our technology in a really performer-friendly and scalable way. We basically said, hey, we want to do this in a way where nobody has to go to large motion capture stages. You can create the content for these characters and their storylines within the constraints of your home office or streaming room at home. We basically wanted to get out of Talon's way and say, hey, you focus on take a page from what Emma was talking about, creating the drama of a stream, creating something that's going to be entertaining and that's going to build a community of followers around your character and around multiple characters as we expand.

So we do a lot of work in Unreal Engine creating this app. We use ARKit on iPhones, 1 of our major technologies that we're working with. And I've got a little video that kind of shows off the features of the app you can take a look at. And this is something that we're actively hiring to continue building these tools out, because they enable us to create content that really couldn't previously, really hasn't been able to, hasn't previously existed, primarily due to the fact that we can use real-time game engines for live animation and mocap. If you're familiar with or been paying attention to what Lucasfilm has been doing on the front end of this with the Mandalorian.

We're using many of the same features and technologies in order to fuel our content creation. So what we're able to do with all this is, as a result of our early stage production, we were able to partner with Reebok, actually, thanks to a relationship we've gotten a great friendship with another YC company. We'll be giving like a 1 minute pitch later called Athlane that pairs streamers with brands. Reebok was really excited about the idea that they could integrate digital products in a new way with virtual characters and get them integrated on the live stream. So here's a video of Neralis showing off his new classic leather Legacy shoes on stream.

And then that, once other brands heard about this, they got excited and that led to a partnership with Guayaquil Yerba Mate that took this a little bit further. So, let's see. Okay. So, That's us. We're still a really small early stage startup.

And what's next on our agenda is launching more characters. We're able to do quite a bit with a remotely distributed team. I think our values at our core, we are storytellers and content creators, and we're building a giant, crazy vision of the future, new media entertainment company that tells stories that appeal to people who are fans of games and eSports on Twitch and YouTube and new social platforms like TikTok and platforms that I'm sure don't exist now but will be really important in the future. We're hiring for positions across the board from Unreal engine to graphic design, video editing, technical art, and marketing. So if you think this is the kind of crazy story that is meant for you, we definitely would love to hear from you.

Please reach out. Let's talk. Thank you so much.

See all Y Combinator transcripts on Youtube

Synthetic Media: Virtual Influencers & Live Animation: Figments (S19) - YC Gaming Tech Talks 2020