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Webtoon Invests in Japanese Webcomic Studio No. 9 as Manga Booms
- Sales for webcomics grew quickly during the pandemic
- Webtoon’s Japanese app, Line Manga, has topped the market
Webtoon Entertainment Inc. is investing in a Japanese webcomic and manga studio as part of the online comic company’s global expansion strategy.
LINE Digital Frontier, the Japanese operation of Webtoon, is buying a minority stake in No. 9. a Tokyo-based company that produces popular webcomics such as Savior of Divine Blood. The deal, Webtoon’s first investment since its US initial public offering in June, aims to strengthen its content pipeline in Japan, Chief Strategy Officer Yongsoo Kim said in an interview.