Daum Communications, owner of one of South Korea’s largest Internet portal sites and a major operator of South Korea webcomic sites, is looking to expand its webcomic operations in the US market by investing in Tapastic, a US webcomics portal. Daum has invested $2m in Series A round. The investor has also partnered with Tapastic in the launch of Daum’s English version of “Like A Wolf.”
Starting in January 2014, “Like A Wolf,” will be translated and published on Tapastic for English speaking audiences. This is an exclusive offering for Tapastic users that is made possible by the investment from Daum Communications.
Tapastic obtains most of its content and traffic from the US market and all its of content is in English. However, it will be integrating Korea content into English mor eon its site in future.
“Daum Communications has a significant presence in online comics in South Korea, and we see significant growth potential for this form of media to become more popular in the U.S. as well,” said Julie Kim, Investment Director, Daum Communications, said in a press release.
She added, “Investing in Tapastic was a natural fit for our portfolio of brands and verticals. We understand from our own company’s experience in South Korea that webcomics can attract a mass following, and we believe Tapastic is creating the foundation for significant growth and success in this medium of webcomics in the U.S. and other English speaking markets.”
Prior to this round of series A financing, Tapastic had raised seed funding from a variety of angel investors. It hosts more than 1,200 webcomic creators, more than 1,400 comic series, and more than 24,000 individual comic episodes.