Cosgear

Cosgear AS, a Norwegian company founded in 2018, is strategically pivoting its business model from hardware to a community-based software platform for the global cosplay market. Originally launched as Costail, the company gained initial traction by developing and selling animatronic costume accessories. Co-founder Vilde Bergan led the company as CEO for approximately six years before stepping down in early 2024, with fellow co-founder Vetle Slagsvold Øien taking over leadership responsibilities.

The company's initial product line focused on enhancing cosplay outfits with robotic parts, primarily the "Costail" and "Cosears". The Costail is a wearable, electric tail that senses and reacts to body movements, offering a customizable and adjustable skeletal structure that allows users to create interchangeable fabric covers for different characters. Complementing the tail, Cosears are movable electronic ears that can react to sound and head tilts, attaching to costumes or wigs via a magnetic headband system called the Cosband Pro. These direct-to-consumer (B2C) products, developed with feedback from the cosplay community, have been shipped to over 40 countries.

Facing macroeconomic pressures on hardware businesses, Cosgear is transitioning to a software-centric approach. The new focus is on building an all-in-one digital community platform where cosplayers can plan projects, organize their work, and share their progress. This strategic shift aims to address a perceived gap in the market for a dedicated digital hub for the estimated 130 million cosplayers worldwide. While hardware sales generated initial revenue, the company is now developing a new business model around this community app, exploring potential B2B revenue streams with companies in the gaming industry. To finance this pivot, Cosgear has been actively fundraising, securing 7 million Norwegian kroner in a 2023 funding round to fuel the app's development and build what it hopes will become the largest online community for cosplayers.

Keywords: cosplay community, animatronic accessories, costume technology, cosplay app, robotic tails, movable ears, cosplay project planner, character creation, gaming industry partnership, B2C e-commerce, digital cosplay hub, Vetle Slagsvold Øien, Vilde Bergan, Costail, Cosears, Cosband, Norwegian startup, costume design, wearable tech, fandom community, prop making, character impersonation