• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, January 14, 2016

YouTube superstar PewDiePie (real name Felix Kjellberg), a 26-year-old Swede who rose to fame with videos of himself playing video games and branched out into comedic content, has unveiled a new talent network, Revelmode, created in collaboration with Disney’s Maker Studios, which will cultivate up-and-coming social media stars.

In his video announcing the launch of Revelmode, Kjellberg explained: “Revelmode is me and a bunch of a really awesome YouTubers coming together as a group to do awesome things.” Kjellberg noted that he has been part of a network for his entire career on YouTube, but described the experience as a “rollercoaster.” He added: “I think networks can be something very positive for everyone involved, they should be something that helps channels on YouTube grow and reach their maximum potential… and that’s why I wanted to create this network.”

Kjellberg also pointed to Maker’s backing, “which means we’ve got all the resources to make this as awesome as possible. We do lose a little bit of hipster cred though.”

Kjellberg has become an icon of the new media landscape, demonstrating social media’s enormous potential for uncovering and developing talent. Last year the Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that he made $7.4 million in 2014, up from $4 million the year before. He currently has 41.6 million subscribers on YouTube, who have together generated over 10 billion views.

Meanwhile there’s something of a land rush going on in the burgeoning field of influencer marketing. Last week, for example, WPP’s GroupM and Fullscreen, which operates a digital platform for content creators on YouTube, announced the creation of an influencer marketing partnership called Playa. And in December Hearst Corp. joined forces with video advertising technology platform Reelio to create new, highly targeted networks of online influencers.

In another study by Zefr published in September, 60% of marketers said they will increase spend on influencer marketing in the coming year, and 22% said it is a top-ranked customer acquisition tool.