Indian webtoon app has closed a new seed round of US$3.2 million in financing from a leading group of investors.
The round was led by German media leader Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, who is dedicated to the progress of science, education, and the culture of reading through renowned companies like Macmillan Publishers and Springer Nature, while also investing in new high-growth, disruptive technology businesses. In addition to Holtzbrinck the round included venture funds GMJP, T-Accelerate and Google. Indian comic and animation creator Graphic India also participated in the new round.
Toonsutra is a comic app available for both Apple and Android stores. The company is founded by Sharad Devarajan and Vishal Anand.
“I have long admired Holtzbrinck’s and Google’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to creators across various media formats. We are honoured to have them and this amazing group of investors as we continue to build on our mission to shape India’s webtoon and comic fandom,” commented Toonsutra co-founder & CEO, Anand. “At Toonsutra we are creating an ecosystem where the biggest global creators and publishers can thrive by reaching entirely new regional language audiences, and Indian readers can discover new worlds with every scroll. Our mission goes beyond entertainment – we’re fostering a new era of creativity, community and creative expression in India.”
Holtzbrinck Publishing Group COO Filmon Zerai mentioned, “Toonsutra represents an exciting confluence of digital innovation and cultural resonance in one of the world’s most dynamic markets. Their impressive growth and leadership position in India’s mobile comic space demonstrates the team’s deep understanding of both content and technology. At Holtzbrinck, we recognise the tremendous potential of the webtoon format and believe Toonsutra is uniquely positioned to capitalise on India’s massive youth audience. We look forward to supporting Vishal, Sharad, and the team as they continue to build India’s premier digital comics platform.”
Toonsutra aims to cater to India’s 700 million plus mobile youth market. The company has partnered with global publishers to bring over 3100 titles and over 5,00,000 episodes in easy-to-read vertical scroll format optimised for mobile.
“With over two million downloads and growing, Toonsutra has shown that Indian audiences are ready to embrace a new era of digital fandom and storytelling. As a lifelong comic book fan and creator, I’m thrilled to bring the best comics and webtoons from around the world into India’s local languages for the very first time. This is an incredible opportunity to introduce millions across the country to the transformative power of this medium while inspiring a new generation of Indian comic and webtoon creators to share their stories and redefine global pop culture,” shared Toonsutra co-founder & chairman Devarajan.
As the excitement for the global webtoon market continues to grow with the recent US$2.7 billion IPO by Naver’s Webtoon Entertainment, the medium and fandom around these new storytelling comic platforms is finding new audiences and territories. The global webtoon market is projected to reach a staggering US$130 billion by some recent estimates, making it one of the highest growing new categories for media and content.
Previous investors in Toonsutra include, Sony Innovation Fund, Maiora Capital, and leading startup veterans, Gen Fukunaga (Funimation founder); Kun Gao (Crunchyroll co-founder); Jeremy Liew (Lightspeed partner); Kevin Lin (Twitch co-founder); Patrick Lee (Rotten Tomatoes co-founder); Keisuke Honda (KSK Angel Fund); Holly Lui (Co-Founder, Kabam); Benjamin Grubbs (CreatorPlus co-founder); Steve Chung (CJENM America former CEO ); and others.
