The Seoul-based hedge fund managing assets worth $600 million is certain that the Korean Webtoons market will soon expand prolifically in America and Europe.
The South Korean influence is skyrocketing globally, whether in the FIFA World Cup held on Qatar grounds or in world pop culture and mainstream media. The demand for Korean music (K-pop), films, and Netflix dramas has proliferated in recent years, creating a suction hole for investments. Following the massive success of K-pop bands like BTS and Blackpink and Netflix original dramas like ‘Squid Game,’ which reportedly generated almost $900 million in impact value for the company, multi-strategy hedge fund manager GVA Asset Management Co. Ltd bets that ‘Webtoons’ shall be the next Korean child to influence the world.
The South Korean pop culture industry has set to take equal strides with the West world, scoring multiple collabs in the past years. The Seoul-based hedge fund managing assets worth $600 million is certain that the Korean Webtoons market will soon expand prolifically in America and Europe. The Webtoon market is currently primarily saturated in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam and is spreading its roots across other countries as well.
Webtoon is nothing but a digital comic initially originating in South Korea. Companies operating in the market focus on launching new comic series and content to interest significant users. Revenue generation entails the use of subscription-based and advertisement-based models. It also raises a portion of its revenue by licensing intellectual property rights to film and drama producers. It is a platform for anyone to write and produce their own comic, manga (Japanese), or manhwa (Korean).
GVA has sown $15 million into Kenaz, an unlisted webtoon production company, thereby becoming its largest shareholder. The company recognises the opportunities bounding the webtoon market and elucidates that due to the lack of listed companies, they are focussing on non-listed companies holding lucrative valuations to capitalise on the incoming opportunities.
Overseas investors have been waiting eagerly to put money into online comics. Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund has been mulling, investing 800 billion won (USD 612.6 million) in Kakao Entertainment Corporation. GIC Pte of Singapore is in talks to invest a lump sum in the Corporation, which aims to go public in 2023. GIC has also invested USD 99.4 million in RIDI, a South Korean webcomic and e-book provider, this year.
Webtoon sales in Korea hit about $800 million in 2020, a massive influx from a little less than $300 million in revenue in 2017. The global market size of webtoons had a valuation of $3.7 billion in 2021, and as the projections display, it shall reach about $56.1 billion by 2030, with the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) being 36.8% from 2022 to 2030.
The massive global internet access has resulted in the number of users expanding and inclining towards webtoons. The worldwide pandemic and political stability in the entertainment industry have also been notable factors for market players in the industry. Companies are set forth to create excellent opportunities to cash on the foreseeable market growth.
Some webtoon service providers like Webtoon™ have their own app. The App store system has improved overall consumer convenience leading to increased market penetration and screen time. Webtoons are readily available on mobile apps that provide customisation for consumers.
Webtoons are often translated by translators into different languages that help in capturing global markets. Webtoon™ is the most popular digital comic platform in Europe, housing comic versions in French, German and Spanish. Europe is thus projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period.
Even though market growth is awaited, the industry has to go a long way to assert dominance across countries, especially in the Western world. It might be too early to gamble on whether webtoons will meet the same buoyed fate of K-pop group BTS and Blackpink or Netflix original series Squid Game, but it is for sure that the consumers and media are taking to it. Gen-Z has been at the forefront of popularising the online comic zone, and creators and streaming platforms as big as Netflix are on a mission to adapt foreign content and spread it worldwide.
