Valkyrae facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Valkyrae
Valkyrae in 2023
Personal information
Born	Rachell Marie Hofstetter (1992-01-08) January 8, 1992 (age 33) Moses Lake, Washington, U.S.
Occupation	Live streamer YouTuber
YouTube information
Years active	2014–present
Genre	Gaming vlog react
Subscribers	4.09 million
Total views	718.9 million
Associated acts	Bella Poarch Corpse Husband Disguised Toast Fuslie Pokimane QTCinderella Sykkuno
Twitch information Channel Valkyrae Years active 2015–2020 2025–present

Rachell "Rae" Marie Hofstetter (born January 8, 1992), better known as Valkyrae, is an American online streamer and YouTuber. She is a co-owner of the gaming organization 100 Thieves and founder, co-owner, and CEO of media company Hihi Studios.

Hofstetter began streaming on Twitch in 2015. She had her breakthrough by playing the competitive online game Fortnite in 2018 and joined 100 Thieves as their first female content creator. In 2020, she switched streaming platforms by signing an exclusive contract with YouTube. Later that year, she saw significant follower growth and reached her peak viewership when playing the online social deduction game Among Us, which led to her winning the Game Award for "Content Creator of the Year" and the Streamy Award for best live streamer. She was also named "Gaming Creator of the Year" by Adweek in 2021 and was included on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in 2022.

Early life

Rachell Hofstetter was born on January 8, 1992, in Moses Lake, Washington. She is of Filipino and German descent and has three brothers and one younger sister. She cites her mother as the reason she became interested in video games, who encouraged her to pursue it as a hobby from a young age. She attended community college and worked a job at GameStop to support herself, later graduating with an associate degree in arts and science.

Career

2015–2019: Early career, initial popularity, and joining 100 Thieves

While working at GameStop, Hofstetter began sharing her gaming hobby on Instagram, gaining a following. After being encouraged by her followers, she started live streaming on Twitch in 2015. She later began uploading her gaming content to YouTube and had her breakthrough by playing the competitive online game Fortnite in 2018. That October, she became the first female content creator for the gaming organization 100 Thieves. In May 2019, she was nominated for the Gaming award at the 11th Shorty Awards.

2020–2024: Move to YouTube, continued growth, and business ventures

Hofstetter during a photoshoot for 100 Thieves in July 2019.

On January 13, 2020, Hofstetter left Twitch for an exclusive streaming contract on YouTube. In her first three months on YouTube, she averaged around 1,500 concurrent viewers. Her stream then experienced significant growth and, in late 2020, regularly peaked at concurrent viewer counts exceeding 100,000. This was driven by her playing the online multiplayer social deduction game Among Us and collaborating with popular streamers like Disguised Toast, Sykkuno, Pokimane, PewDiePie, and Cr1TiKaL, in addition to public figures like politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, musician Lil Nas X, and television personality Jimmy Fallon. Hofstetter became the fastest-growing female streamer of 2020 and surpassed Pokimane as the year's most-viewed female streamer. In December 2020, she won Content Creator of the Year award at the 2020 Game Awards.

On April 7, 2021, Hofstetter and CouRageJD joined the ownership group of 100 Thieves, alongside Dan Gilbert, Scooter Braun, Drake, and its founder, Nadeshot. As co-owners, they received equity in the company, which Forbes valued at $190 million at the time. In May 2021, she won Gaming Creator of the Year award at the 2021 Adweek Creator Visionary Awards. ..... In December 2021, she won the Livestreamer award at the 11th Streamy Awards.

In 2022, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the games category. In March 2022, she was nominated for Best Variety Streamer at the 2022 Streamer Awards. In September 2022, she became an ambassador for the fitness apparel brand Gymshark. In December 2022, she was nominated for Streamer of the Year and Variety Streamer at the 12th Streamy Awards. On March 11, 2023, she co-hosted the second annual Streamer Awards alongside the event's creator, QTCinderella; the ceremony averaged 425,000 live concurrent viewers. Later in August 2023, she was nominated for Streamer of the Year and Variety Streamer at the 13th Streamy Awards.

In February 2024, she won The Sapphire Award at the February 2024 Streamer Awards. In May 2024, Hofstetter's streaming heavily involved playing a character on the modded Grand Theft Auto V roleplaying server NoPixel. Later that month, she was named among Gold House A100 honorees. On July 13, 2024, she appeared and participated in a MrBeast video titled "50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000". In September 2024, Hofstetter founded her own media company called Hihi Studios, the company is set to "develop and produce IP for graphic novels, TV and film projects with a specific emphasis on anime-inspired content." In October 2024, Hofstetter launched her podcast Press Esc with artist Alyssa "Alythuh" Dios as her co-host with the first episode airing on October 13. In December 2024, she was nominated for The Sapphire Award at the December 2024 Streamer Awards. On December 28, Hofstetter announced that her exclusive streaming contract on YouTube had expired and that she would be returning to Twitch starting in January 2025.

2025–present: Return to Twitch

On January 8, 2025, she streamed for the first time after returning to Twitch while also celebrating her tenth streaming anniversary and her 33rd birthday. After a week of her comeback on Twitch, she became the most-watched female streamer in the second week of January, based on hours watched.

Other activities

Philanthropy

On April 6, 2021, Hofstetter participated in an Among Us charity livestream held by The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon with several notable celebrities such as Gaten Matarazzo and Noah Schnapp of Stranger Things, American hip-hop band The Roots members Questlove, Black Thought, and Captain Kirk Douglas, and fellow streamers and YouTubers Sykkuno and Corpse Husband. The event raised over $25,000 for Feeding America.

In June 2022, Hofstetter participated in a Minecraft charity tournament held by the MC Championship with several other creators to raise money for The Trevor Project. Hofstetter also donated $10,000 towards the charity. In late November 2022, Hofstetter donated $15,000 towards No Kid Hungry during Ludwig Ahgren's charity event. In December 2022, Hofstetter participated in "Thankmas", an annual charity livestream event hosted by YouTuber jacksepticeye, to raise money for World Central Kitchen. The event raised over $10 million in donations.

Hofstetter donated $10,000 towards the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023.

Personal life

From 2016 to 2021, Hofstetter was in a relationship with fellow streamer Michael "Sonii" Sherman. From April 2023 to July 2024, Hofstetter moved into a house in Los Angeles with fellow streamers Leslie "Fuslie" Fu, Miyoung "Kkatamina" Kim, and Christina "TinaKitten" Kenyan. They were collectively known as "The Roomies". She owns a dog named Mika.

Hofstetter endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Discography

Singles

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

Listicles

See also

In Spanish: Valkyrae para niños

• List of YouTubers