One Punch Man is a manga-turned-anime about existential dread and the stilted, life-sapping agony that comes with being left alone.
“I love One blow Man, especially because the creator actually had no idea how to create good art in the beginning,” said Dylan Telano, founder and CEO of VoyceMe, a platform for publishing and reading webcomics. “The original One Punch Man was drawn on a napkin and eventually published, and then it became the series that we all love. That’s honestly one of the inspirations why I started VoyceMe.”
The series is about a superhero who, no matter what, defeats all of his opponents with a single punch. And that gets pretty depressing after a while. The magnitude of the anime superhero’s problem may be inexplicable (who on Earth can solve all of their problems with a single punch?), but their search for meaning in an impossible world is universal. And Telano is doing something many would consider impossible – or at least far from being funded by venture capitalists: With VoyceMe, Telano hopes to solve core problems for artists working on manga and webcomics, while also meeting the demand of a growing and interconnected media market.
VoyceMe has raised new seed capital, bringing its total funding to $10 million. Assets can exclusively report. This latest round was led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from Torch Capital, Red Sea Ventures and Clara Vista Partners, all existing investors. The company did not disclose a valuation.
The bear scenario for VoyceMe is pretty obvious: if monetization never really takes off, or if it never gets that big because the market isn’t big enough, then that’s it. The bull scenario is much more interesting in my opinion. This scenario explicitly includes the idea that the market for anime and webtoons is not just big enough – it’s growing.
“We actually have three markets that all appeal to our target audience: the anime market, the manga market and the webtoon market,” Telano said. “The interesting thing about all of these markets is that they are growing rapidly.”
There are definitely signs that this market is maturing—just look at the IPO of OG comic publishing platform Webtoon this summer. And the numbers on the market’s future are compelling, especially when you look at them all in one fell swoop: According to various market researchers, the manga market is expected to reach $53 billion by 2032, the anime market $60 billion, and the webtoon market $40 billion.
VoyceMe’s goal is to monetize through a multi-pronged plan, including licensing its proprietary AI tools, producing original content (for which VoyceMe owns the intellectual property), and (carefully) monetizing its platform and relationships with developers over time.
VoyceMe declined to provide current revenue figures, but said the platform receives over eight million visits a month and readership has increased 1,000% since last year. The company has a far-flung world of semi-competitors, from newly public webtoons to offbeat comic-sharing on Reddit.
But Telano’s thesis is this: The North American market, considered “highly valued” compared to Asia but still nascent, will grow. And that means there will be more manga, anime and webcomic fans in a market that isn’t ready to meet demand..
“In my opinion, there’s a huge mismatch between supply and demand, and ultimately creators suffer the consequences of living a hard life with little pay,” Telano said. “Creators live such crappy lives, and in this space, the problem is really profound… People read content in this space very quickly. Five artists work 80 hours a week to create a chapter, and then it’s consumed in 30 seconds.”
Telano put me in touch with artist Matthew Johnson, who was one of the top 10 artists on the platform before he started working with VoyceMe. (His work includes Thrash: The Rise of Shidou, a moody but luminous comic about a world of dying gods.) Johnson speaks openly about the problems artists like himself face, and says that VoyceMe has streamlined his artistic process, from helping with promotion and marketing to technical aids to reducing physical strain.
“Art is physical work, it’s not just a hobby,” Johnson said. “I know this is probably going to knock someone out… But that’s where the rigor comes in, the repetitive tasks. I had a wrist injury last year and Dylan really listened to me and said, ‘Let me do something to help.’ In my experience, VoyceMe understands artists and has compassion for them, and that speaks volumes.”
One of the things about manga and webcomics is that the creators are readers and the readers are creators. If you know anyone who loves anime or manga, you know that that love often lasts a lifetime.
“The last few years have taught us that consumption is hard and that you need a truly fanatical following to build a lasting platform,” Meera Clark, managing director of Redpoint Ventures, said via email. “The sheer number of hours these weebs (a new word for me) spend consuming and engaging with content is insane – and represents the clearest pull we’ve seen for a vertical social network in a long time.”
I argue that webtoons alone are not venture-fundable, but VoyceMe’s ambitions are clearly bigger. And I think there is still a lot we don’t know about the limits of the combined manga, anime, and webtoon market in the US. It might be the wrong question anyway. After all, how One Punch Man Hero Saitama asks: “Who sets boundaries? And on what basis?”
See you in the morning,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
E-mail: [email protected]
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Nina Ajemian curated the “Offers” section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE OFFERS
– Setpointan Austin, NY-based infrastructure provider for the lending industry, has raised $31 million in its second round of funding. 645 activities led the round and was accompanied by City, Wells Fargo, Andreessen-Horowitzand other.
– CodeRabbita Walnut Creek, California-based AI code review platform, has raised $16 million in Series A funding. CRV led the round and was accompanied by FlexCapital, Technical capitaland angel investors.
– ArborXRa remote mobile device management software for VR and AR, has raised $12 million in funding. Mercury Funds And Cortado Ventures led the round and was accompanied by Impact venture capital And Lewis & Clark Ventures.
– Splinesa collaborative 3D design platform based in Middletown, Delaware, has raised $10 million in Series A funding round. Third point Ventures led the round and was accompanied by Gradient Ventures, Y-combinator, Fire stripesand other.
– Colloa Tampere, Finland-based fluid processing solutions company, has raised €5 million ($5.5 million) in funding. SEB Greentech Venture Capital And FORWARD.one led the round and was supported by existing investors Scaling capital.
– Holman acquired a minority stake in FM Capitala Boulder, Colorado-based venture capital firm focused on the automotive and transportation industries. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Private equity
– Advent International agreed to acquire the majority stake in SYSPROa Tustin, California-based ERP software provider for the manufacturing and distribution industries. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Haveli Investments And Bregal Milestone agreed on a majority recapitalization of M-Files Corporationan Austin-based knowledge work automation platform. Financial details were not disclosed.
– A subsidiary of HIG Capital acquired Axis Europea London-based provider of property maintenance services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Tidal Rocks acquired Glenn Wayne Bakerya wholesale bakery and retail outlet based in Bohemia, NY. Financial details were not disclosed.
– Tidal Rocks acquired Global electronics recyclinga Phoenix-based electronics recycling company. Financial details were not disclosed.
– Tidal Rocks acquired Premier LogiTecha Dallas-based supply chain solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– ToxStrategiesa portfolio company of Renovus Capital Partnersacquired Sutton’s Creeka Westlake Village, California-based service provider for pharmaceutical companies. Financial details were not disclosed.
OUTPUTS
– Vista Equity Partner acquired JAGGAERa Durham, North Carolina-based enterprise procurement and supplier collaboration software company, CinvenFinancial details were not disclosed.
OTHER
– Carlyle agreed to acquire Baxter’s Kidney Care business from Baxter Internationala Deerfield, Illinois-based medical device manufacturer, for $3.8 billion.
