From KilaKila to Wakuwaku:

A Female Entrepreneur’s Journey in Creating an OnLine Social Amusement Park for Young Women

Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us. Please tell us a little of your professional background?

Wang Yu: Before officially starting work in 2008, I followed the internet’s development trends closely and gained foundational experience in internet information technology while doing social practice at a startup company. After graduating from the university, I worked at Baidu on search engine-related projects, including the Phoenix Nest system, which helped upgrade Baidu’s core business model. In 2010, I joined Dolphin Browser, where I added voice interaction and multi-touch technology to improve the user experience on mobile devices. Later, at Sina Weibo, I created fan group functions and connected Microsoft Xiaoice, an artificial intelligence, to the platform. This experience made me aware of the online entertainment needs and consumption behavior of young female users. Based on this, I founded Yoka Interactive Technology Co., Ltd. in 2016 and developed mobile internet apps that cater to the cultural needs of young women. Our KilaKila series of products has achieved the top position in the Chinese industry in areas such as voice idol live interaction and virtual idol live streaming.

You are the Co-founder of Youka Interactive Technology Co., Ltd. Could you tell us the major business model of your company and what kind of services your company provides to the public?

Wang Yu: Youka Interaction is an online entertainment ecosystem built around young female users. It includes platforms such as KilaKila, a voice actor live streaming, as well as Manbo, a platform for interactive radio dramas and audio novels, and various forms of female culture, creating a social amusement park exclusively for young people. In addition, we have made some innovations and breakthroughs in core technologies, such as patent technologies for expressing emotional transmission through voice effects, optimizing audio and video encoding and decoding, and virtual image-based live broadcasting. These technologies can better meet the online social and entertainment needs of young female users, specifically allowing female users to feel the transmission of emotions and satisfy the diversified emotional needs of young women in different professions and situations, such as pursuing stars, second dimension culture, voice control, and so on.

As a female entrepreneur, what is your special experience in doing business in the internet industry?

Wang Yu: Male entrepreneurship is considered normal, while female entrepreneurship is often misunderstood, especially in emerging industries such as the internet. Initially, those around me, including relatives and friends, believed that I would face unimaginable difficulties, but they meant well. So, my initial experience was fear, but it also inspired me to persevere and prove myself.

As I delved deeper into the internet industry, my experience was “unique”. As a woman, my experience working in the internet industry was very special. Perhaps based on women’s innate curiosity, I myself am very interested and passionate about emerging technologies, and I am also willing to break through. I think these unique advantages are very important driving forces for my entrepreneurship.

In my company, except for the R&D department, most of the employees are actually women, and some are even from the user group. They switch between the roles of designer and user, so they pay more attention to details in product design and user experience and are more outstanding. They also have more precise control over the product content, standing on the aesthetic point of view of most users to bring users a better internet entertainment experience. Because there are more female employees, we pay more attention to teamwork in our work. Women are more easily able to establish good relationships with each other, such as going shopping together, discussing clothes, sharing songs, cooking together, etc. These actions make our relationships more intimate and enable us to work together more perfectly.

Why would you like to extend your business internationally? What kind of preparation are you doing to extend your platform in the United States?

Wang Yu: Many of the large-scale projects I have participated in in the past have involved people from the United States, which has made me feel that the atmosphere of the technology industry in the United States is open, equal, and innovative. I hope to create a network platform that allows internet users to express their opinions more freely. This aligns well with American internet culture, and I believe my platform and business will be more welcomed by women in the diverse and open environment of the United States. To this end, I have registered and established an information technology company, Meta Elements Inc., in Washington D.C., USA. Our virtual interactive platform, Wakuwaku, is going to be launched very soon. Wakuwaku’s virtual broadcasters can be animated characters, 3D models, or AI-generated digital characters, and viewers can watch, comment, and interact with them through the live platform, successfully creating a small community that meets the emotional needs of young female users by combining entertainment and socializing.

In addition, based on our understanding of the needs of American users, I will also develop new virtual live broadcasting software platforms to meet the online entertainment needs of different groups. In my spare time, I will also seek out a community near the company to conduct research and gain a deeper understanding of the lifestyle habits and psychological needs of young American women. I believe that the collision of different cultures and the internet industry is something I am particularly looking forward to.