The prince of Kumu leads a growing ‘Kumuverse’ of Pinoy creators

Prince. If you’re a streamer on live streaming app Kumu, you probably recognize the name. Known outside the “Kumuverse” as Jeffrey Hernandez, his reach on mainstream social media is not out of the ordinary. On Kumu, however, he is royalty.

In the past month alone, @prince has won the top spot in campaigns (contests) that include being on the cover of international magazine Xpedition and being the face of the Kumu app icon. He credits his success to his supporters who support him through virtual gifts. “I also value everyone who joins me in my streams—the consistent, silent viewers…those who took effort in creating banners/posters in my streams [and] those who voluntarily share my streams whenever I hit that live button,” he said.

“If you’re a Kumu streamer and you see Prince’s name pop up on the same leaderboard as you, you know things are about to get hot,” said Rexy Dorado, president of Kumu.

Dorado described Prince as “the epitome of Kumu Famous,” a prime example of what Kumu can be, where a creator doesn’t need millions of followers to be successful. “Our next phase,” said Dorado, “is all about investing in our top creators to go from Kumu Famous to making a nationwide cultural impact.”

Providing opportunities to streamers

The Kumu creator base is diverse and covers the whole world. Take @queenmichikoi, a Filipina based in Japan, for example, whose face can be seen in the opening billboard of the film Rookie at Cinemalaya. “I am thankful for people who have supported me since the beginning of my career here on Kumu,” she shared. “They witnessed how I struggled, yet they stayed with me up until today.”

There’s also @marcjosephcruz26_, a life coach and host who was able to win an opportunity to co-host with Robi Domingo through a Kumu campaign. He described his goal as “being able to help entertain more people, especially those who are experiencing anxiety and depression or mental health issues.”

Kumu streamers’ interests stretch across multiple fields. @nataliexynia was a Facebook gaming streamer and cosplayer when she discovered Kumu as a way to not only earn an income, but to unlock opportunities such as winning a billboard spot along EDSA and being featured in Rank magazine. “Seeing myself out there makes me feel so happy and proud,” she said.

@msannegarcia, meanwhile, was a character actress in film, TV, and commercials. But in Kumu, she talks about anything and everything—she even found her romantic partner through the app. “It was actually the most unexpected part of my personal life,” she said. “Kumu made us connected despite being miles apart from each other.”

Across the Kumuverse

Beyond live streaming, Kumu has set its sights on supporting the next generation of Filipino content and creators. Last year, it launched the Penlab app, the No. 1 platform for local Filipino komiks and now the most active publisher of local stories both online and offline. It also supports new platforms and IP in gaming, webnovels, film, and more.

“One of our central beliefs is that Pinoy creators have the potential to take over the world,” said Dorado. “We’re excited to enter this phase where we are investing in a true Kumuverse of content that reaches across platforms, formats, and mediums.”

* * *

Editor’s Note: This article was provided by kumu.