Self-made cyber celebrity Papi Jiang, known for making humorous videos, was able to secure a 12 million yuan ($1.85 million) investment, local media reported.

The 29-year-old Shanghai native was able to gather financial support from Lighthouse Capital, Luogic Capital, Xingtu Capital, and ZhenFund, industrial media tmtpost.com reported on Saturday. Tencent also reported that the investment allegedly comprises 12 percent of Papi Jiang's share.

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The graduate student from the Central Academy of Drama has become a rising superstar in the country in recent months as she openly tackles issues about everyday life, movies, social dilemmas as well as relationships via her 40 originally posted videos on social networking sites such as WeChat and Weibo, of which she has gained eight million followers.

While her official YouTube channel has drawn 19,000 subscribers, her self-produced videos also managed to attract tens of thousands of reposts and comments.

The investment reportedly gives emphasis on digital marketing, Zhang Yi, iiMedia Research CEO of Guangzhou, told Global Times on Sunday. In fact, on April 21, an auction for the first ad in Papi Jiang's videos will be made in Beijing. Bidding is only limited to 100 bidders with an entrance fee of 8,000 yuan.

Furthermore, her videos posted across video platforms such as Bilibili, Tencent and Youko have been viewed over a hundred million times in 2016 alone. Media reports also revealed that over 3,000 WeChat users are more likely willing to pay for her videos. However, despite the staggering figures, Papi Jiang still does not seem to earn anything, except from the tips she receives from WeChat, according to Quartz.

Meanwhile, although her videos all appear satirical, Zhang cautioned Internet celebrities of the big risks they are taking, citing a number of posts that have been blocked online because these were considered rude or inappropriate. 

TagsPapi Jiang, Internet celebrity, weibo, YouTube, online celebrity