Rachell Marie Hofstetter (born January 8, 1992), better known as Valkyrae, is an

American online streamer, YouTuber, and podcaster. She is a co-owner of the gaming
organization 100 Thieves and founder and CEO of the 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 Marie Hofstetter was born on January 8, 1992, and grew up in Moses Lake,
Washington.[1][2][3][4] She is of Filipino and German descent[5] and has three
brothers and one younger sister.[6] 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.[7] She attended community college and worked a job at GameStop to support
herself,[8] later graduating with an associate degree in arts and science.[9]

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.[8][10] She later began uploading her gaming content to
YouTube and had her breakthrough by playing the competitive online game Fortnite in
2018.[10] That October, she became the first female content creator for the gaming
organization 100 Thieves.[11][12] In May 2019, she was nominated for the Gaming
award at the 11th Shorty Awards.[13]

2020–2024: Move to YouTube

On January 13, 2020, Hofstetter left Twitch for an exclusive streaming contract on
YouTube.[14] In her first three months on YouTube, she averaged around 1,500
concurrent viewers.[15] Her stream then experienced significant growth and, in late
2020, regularly peaked at concurrent viewer counts exceeding 100,000.[16] 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,[16] in addition to public figures like politician
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, musician Lil Nas X, and television personality Jimmy
Fallon.[8][17] Hofstetter became the fastest-growing female streamer of 2020 and
surpassed Pokimane as the year's most-viewed female streamer.[16] In December 2020,
she won Content Creator of the Year award at the 2020 Game Awards.[18]

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.[8] In May 2021, she won Gaming Creator of the Year award at the 2021
Adweek Creator Visionary Awards.[19] In December 2021, she won the Livestreamer
award at the 11th Streamy Awards.[20]

In 2022, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the games category.[21] In
March 2022, she was nominated for Best Variety Streamer at the 2022 Streamer
Awards.[22] In December 2022, she was nominated for Streamer of the Year and
Variety Streamer at the 12th Streamy Awards.[23] 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.[24][25][26] Later in August
2023, she was nominated for Streamer of the Year and Variety Streamer at the 13th
Streamy Awards.[27]

In February 2024, she won The Sapphire Award at the third annual Streamer Awards.
[28] In May 2024, Hofstetter's streaming heavily involved playing a character on
the modded Grand Theft Auto V roleplaying server NoPixel.[1] Later that month, she
was named among Gold House A100 honorees.[29] In July 2024, she participated in the
MrBeast video "50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000".[30] In December 2024, she was
nominated for The Sapphire Award at the fourth annual Streamer Awards.[31]

2025–present: Return to Twitch

By January 2025, Hofstetter's exclusive streaming contract with YouTube had
expired.[32] She returned to Twitch on January 8, while celebrating her 10th
streaming anniversary and her 33rd birthday.[33] During her first week, she was the
most-watched female streamer on Twitch, based on hours watched.[34][35]

On February 24, 2025, Hofstetter began a week-long IRL streaming marathon in Los
Angeles with fellow streamer Brittany "Cinna" Watts titled Sis-A-Thon. Hoffstetter
and Watts had planned on holding the marathon in January, but it was postponed due
to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.[36] On March 2, the final night
of the marathon, Hoffstetter, Watts, and their guest Emily "Emiru" Schunk, were
targeted by a stalker at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier.[37][38] A man, who
introduced himself as "Russell", had approached the live streamers and asked Emiru
for her phone number, who declined but offered to take a photo with him.[37] The
man would take his hoodie off and reapproach the women again over a half hour
later, asking Emiru for her number after they got off the Ferris wheel. The man
became aggressive after they told him no again, threatening to kill the streamers
and requiring to be held back by Cinna's cameraman Rosii as they called for park
security.[37][39] The streamers ended the marathon early and contacted the police,
Hofstetter tweeting the following morning: "We are all ok and have been with
police. We decided we are done with the marathon and need time to process! Thank
you for all the love and support this past week, we had so much fun and hope you
all enjoyed. That end of marathon brunch stream we had planned tomorrow with
friends will be rescheduled for sometime in the far future :’) Please send love to
emiru, Cinna, Rosie [sic] and Emily! Everybody is in shock but I’m so glad were
[sic] together".[37][40] Later that day, Hofstetter and Watts went live to address
the incident and officially conclude the marathon.[41]

On November 7, 2025, Hofstetter and Watts began their second week-long streaming
marathon titled Sis-A-Thon 2.[42]

Other activities
Acting
In 2021, Hofstetter appeared in several music videos, including "DayWalker" by
Machine Gun Kelly featuring Corpse Husband,[43] as well as "Build a Bitch" and
"Inferno" by Bella Poarch.[44][45] In March 2022, she voiced acted as Hannya Squad
member for the English dub TV series of Tribe Nine.[46] In December 2022, she
voiced Squad Commander Red in the animated TV series Sonic Prime.[47] In 2023, she
made a cameo appearance as herself in the action-comedy film The Family Plan.[48]
In January 2025, she voiced the lead character, "Ratchet", in the animated film
Goldbeak.[49] In April 2025, it was revealed that Hofstetter had filmed a 30-second
cameo for A Minecraft Movie, but the scene was cut; in the final release, she only
appears in the background of a shot.[50][51] In 2025, Hofstetter was also featured
in QTCinderella (Blaire)’s music video for "Forever."

Business ventures
In September 2022, Hofstetter became an ambassador for the fitness apparel brand
Gymshark.[52] In September 2024, she founded the media company Hihi Studios to
"develop and produce IP for graphic novels, TV and film projects with a specific
emphasis on anime-inspired content."[53] In June 2025, Hihi Studios announced their
first project, a webtoon called Bad Influence.[54]

Charity works
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.[55]

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.[56] In late November 2022,
Hofstetter donated $15,000 towards No Kid Hungry during Ludwig Ahgren's charity
event.[57][58] 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.[59]

Hofstetter donated $10,000 towards the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and
Syria on February 6, 2023.[60]

Podcasting
From October 2024 to April 2025, she had a podcast called Press Esc with artist
Alyssa "Alythuh" Dios as her co-host.[61][62][63] In April 2025, Press Esc
concluded due to Dios moving to Hawaii and would be unable to film episodes.[63]

In July 2025, Hofstetter was announced as the new co-host to Wine About It with
QTCinderella.[64][65]

RFLCT and controversy

On October 19, 2021, Hofstetter announced the launch of her skincare brand, RFLCT.
The brand, primarily geared towards gamers and those who put in heavy screen time,
claimed that users are susceptible to skin damage caused by prolonged exposure to
blue light and that their products protect against it.

RFLCT received backlash due to insufficient evidence supporting the claim;[66][67]

according to Kathleen Suozzi, the director of the aesthetic dermatology program at
Yale University, unless someone was already prone to melasma or hyperpigmentation,
they were unlikely to suffer any consequence of sitting in front of a screen for
long periods of time.[68] Hofstetter responded by stating that "all of the hate,
doubt, concerns, and criticisms are all warranted and valid" and that she was "very
upset and confused" with the lack of information on its website, promising
additional information supporting the products would be made available.[68][69] She
was later informed that the research conducted by RFLCT supporting the products—
which she had been given access to during development—could not be released to the
public.[70]

Hofstetter then expressed a desire to part ways with RFLCT but was contractually
bound.[71] On October 30, 2021, RFLCT ceased operation of its website and online
store. A statement on the website read: "While we believe in the formulations
created, after further reflection, have decided to move forward on new paths,
effectively terminating the RFLCT brand."[72][73]

Personal life
Hofstetter resides in Los Angeles.[74] From 2016 to 2021, she was in a relationship
with fellow streamer Michael "Sonii" Sherman.[26] From April 2023 to July 2024, she
lived with fellow streamers Leslie "Fuslie" Fu, Miyoung "Kkatamina" Kim, and
Christina "TinaKitten" Kenyon, collectively known as "The Roomies".[74]
Hofstetter endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election.
[75]