Korean manhwa publisher Webtoon Entertainment is set to get a massive injection of capital to help in its ongoing effort to loosen Japan’s grip on the hearts and minds of the global manga-reading public. If everything goes as planned, Webtoon will significantly deepen its advantages as a digital comic publisher to levels Japan’s traditional manga publishers will find difficult to overcome.

As announced in a Webtoon Entertainment press release earlier in June, the Los Angeles-based subsidiary of the Korean tech giant Naver Communications has decided to go public with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the United States’ NASDAQ stock exchange. As explained in the release, the idea behind the IPO is to leverage the company’s industry-leading position and global popularity to attract new investment that they hope to parlay into an unmatched presence in the webcomic publishing space.

According to the BBC, Webtoon is hoping to sell 15 million shares in the IPO, which it hopes will raise over $300 million. Their hopes may not be too far off the mark as some of the biggest institutional investors and fund managers in the world are lining up to buy into the digital comic publisher. Indeed, the Financial Times notes that the company’s market value has increased to almost $3 billion since announcing its plans to go public, further demonstrating company leaders’ strong confidence in the upcoming IPO.

Webtoon’s Expansion Rests on the Shoulders of Its Creators

Content Is KingiIn Webtoon’s Digital Comic Publishing Future

While the total amount of funds Webtoon will raise from its IPO is yet unknown, what is clear is that it will be significant. That’s important for Webtoon since it needs the funds to finance its next stage of development – which it believes will cement its position as the leader of digital comic content. According to Nikkei Asia Review, Webtoon plans to use the money it raises in the IPO on two areas of focus.

First, it will use the funds to “expand its creator base”. This initiative involves two sub-components: building out its content by recruiting more creators while increasing compensation for existing creators to ensure their continued collaboration. Naturally, Webtoon will only be as good as the manhwa content it produces. Accordingly, having more content creators who feel financially secure working for Webtoon will go a long way to ensuring more good manhwa content gets out to the public. As Webtoon founder and CEO Junkoo Kim said in an interview with Forbes:

We partner with our creators for success. We don’t own the content; they have all the rights. We just help them succeed financially, at the same time listening to our user base. We try to provide an unmatched value proposition for our creators.

Second, Webtoon plans to use its IPO funds to invest heavily in AI. The investment will not be for AI tools that generate content. Indeed, as Webtoon’s CSO Yongsoo Kim said in the same Forbes interview, AI will not be used to replace Webtoon’s creators. Rather, the investment will go into AI tools that boost the productivity of the company’s human content creators, such as “AI-based auto-painting tools”. Webtoon won’t just dabble in this area but plans to establish a dedicated AI department focused on getting the most from the technology.

In a Digital Comic Future, Webtoon Finds Itself in The Power Position

Outside, helping its creators create more top-level content. Webtoon also plans to help creators market and sell their products. Indeed, this is an area where the digital comic publisher has several advantages. First, as the world’s leading digital comic publisher in a world that is becoming increasingly digital, Webtoon has a significant advantage not only in promoting its content to digital natives but also in providing access to that content.

To be sure, Webtoon believes that the future of comic publishing, including manga, will be digital. The funds raised from the IPO will ensure that it not only participates in digital comic discussions but also leads the conversation. As the two company leaders suggest, in the future, everyone – from consumers to creators to publishers – will be interested in what Webtoon is doing.

Sources: Webtoon Entertainment, BBC, Financial Times, Nikkei Asia Review, Forbes