Andy Merino's Biography (ElZeein): the streamer who signed for Persas FC

He started uploading videos to YouTube in 2009, when that word still sounded odd in Peru, and today he chairs a digital football club that competes in the Kings League. Andy Merino, better known as ElZeein (and previously as Andynsane), is one of the Peruvian content creators with the longest career and one of the few figures in local streaming capable of reinventing himself with every new platform. This is his story up to 2026.

Who is Andy Merino (ElZeein)?

Andy Dante Merino Ramírez, known as ElZeein and previously as Andynsane, is a Peruvian streamer and content creator born on October 25, 1992 in Tarma. He is recognised for his move from YouTube to Twitch and then to Kick, the platform on which he has established himself as one of the Latin American reference points. In 2026 he combines streaming with the presidency of Persas FC in the Kings League Américas.

Andy Merino (ElZeein) at a glance

Andy Merino's childhood and early years

Andy Merino was born in Tarma, in the central highlands of Peru, but he grew up in Lima, where he studied Communication Sciences at the Universidad de Lima between 2010 and 2016. From an early age he showed an interest in content creation: in 2009, still at school, he opened his YouTube channel under the pseudonym Andynsaane, with which he began posting videos marked by humour and the use of popular Peruvian expressions.

That close, colloquial style was key to capturing a young audience that was beginning to migrate from cable to the internet. At a time when creating content on YouTube was still not a recognised career option in Peru, Merino chose to keep his channel going while he was at university, laying the foundations of what would later be one of the longest careers in Peruvian streaming.

Andy Merino's professional career

The Andynsane channel grew steadily during the 2010s, until it passed 2.2 million subscribers on YouTube and ranked, by October 2015, as the sixth Peruvian channel with the most subscribers. That growth in on-demand video was the prelude to his leap into live streaming, a format in which he would end up standing out even more.

From 2019 he diversified his presence towards Facebook Gaming, Twitch and, later, Kick. In August 2022 he made history by becoming the number one Peruvian streamer on Twitch, after reaching the mark of 10,000 paid subscriptions in a single broadcast, a record for the country at that time. In May 2024 he took a decisive step by signing for Kick, a platform where he already had 1.5 million followers from the moment he arrived and on which he has remained one of its most visible representatives in Latin America.

Main milestones of his career:

• 2009: he debuts on YouTube as Andynsane.
• 2015: he passes 2.2 million subscribers; sixth biggest Peruvian channel.
• 2022: he breaks the record for paid subscriptions on Twitch in Peru (10,000).
• 2023-2024: he organises the Luminy Awards, an awards show for Peruvian digital creators.
• 2024: he signs with Kick with 1.5 million followers.
• 2025: he leads the Peruvian team at the Kings World Cup Nations and organises the boxing event "La Noche Dorada".
• 2026: he remains one of the biggest streamers on Kick in the region.

Andy Merino's (ElZeein) leading projects

Channel / Network: Type of content · Status in 2026

YouTube (Andynsane): Humour videos and interviews · Historic channel, more than 2.2 million subscribers

Twitch: Live streaming · The stage that made him the number 1 Peruvian streamer in 2022

Kick: Live streaming · Main platform since 2024

Persas FC: Kings League Américas · He has chaired the club since it was founded

Luminy Awards: Creators' awards show · Organiser (2023-2024)

Andy Merino's personal life

In October 2023, Merino moved to Monterrey, Mexico, a change of residence that coincided with the expansion of his career outside Peru. In July 2024 he married Alexa Regina Macías Maitret. The couple has publicly shared different moments of their relationship with their community of followers on social media.

In January 2025, ElZeein was called out in Peruvian media over comments considered racist about people from the country's highlands, which generated strong controversy and criticism on social media. The streamer responded publicly to the accusations, although the episode remained one of the most controversial moments of his recent career.

Fun facts about Andy Merino

• He started on YouTube in 2009 under the name "Andynsaane", almost 15 years before becoming the ElZeein who is known today.
• In 2022 he broke the Twitch record in Peru by passing 10,000 paid subscriptions in a single broadcast.
• He chairs Persas FC, his own team in the Kings League Américas, extending his brand from streaming to digital seven-a-side football.
• He organised "La Noche Dorada", a boxing event between content creators, in 2025.
• He has lived in Monterrey, Mexico, since October 2023, after having established himself as a streaming figure in Peru.
• His Instagram handle is still @andynsane, a nod to his original name even though today he presents himself publicly as ElZeein or Zein.

Andy Merino (ElZeein) in 2026

In 2026, ElZeein remains one of the most important figures in Spanish-language streaming on Kick, the platform where he has consolidated Latin America as his main audience. His role as president of Persas FC in the Kings League Américas also keeps him active away from the broadcasts, in running a team that competes against other clubs of content creators in the region.

His ability to adapt to each new platform —from YouTube to Twitch and from there to Kick— is still the characteristic that sets him apart from other Peruvian streamers of his generation, many of whom did not manage to sustain their audience in the long run.

Conclusion

Few Peruvian creators can say that they have spent more than 15 years in front of a camera, and Andy Merino, today ElZeein, is one of them. From the homemade videos of Andynsane to the leadership of Persas FC in the Kings League, his career sums up much of the evolution of Peruvian digital entertainment. At Famosix we follow the country's most influential streamers and creators closely.

Sources consulted

• Wikipedia: Andy Merino (Zein)
• La República: El Zeein Kick, ¿quién es este famoso streamer peruano que se inició en YouTube?
• Infobae: Andynsane rompe récord en Twitch al llegar a 10 mil suscriptores en directo
• Infobae: Streamer Zeein es acusado de racismo por polémicas declaraciones
• Infobae: ElZeein, así fue cómo se convirtió en el streamer más seguido del Perú