tappytoon logoTappytoon is growing, as are other webcomics portals. The Korea based, VC backed company has just released some readership numbers: as of November 2022, the platform hit 7 million registered members, with the US representing 78.6% (approximately 5.5 million members) of its readership. Tappytoon has also exceeded 380 million views globally on its internet platform and mobile app.

It’s all part of a growing appetite among US youngs for K-Drama, K-Pop, K-Beauty, K-fried chicken and now K-Comics, all of which led to a 200% average annual sales growth for Tappytoon. And the company is thrilled by its demographics:

#1 ranking in Android and Apple’s app comics category in North America and Europe–just two years after its 2016 launch. Gen Z accounts for Tappytoon‘s most significant audience slice, with 71% of its readers between 18-24 years old and 74% identifying as female. A key factor driving interest among this audience is the variety of genres available on Tappytoon‘s platform, including fantasy, martial arts such as Solo Leveling, BL (Boy’s Love), female-oriented romance fantasy, and K-Drama adaptations. This diverse range of stories breaks away from the familiar costumed superheroes of American comics.

“When we launched Tappytoon, Korean comics and webtoons were already gaining popularity. We saw the need for high-quality, vetted translations, which led us to create a platform for webtoon fans worldwide to immerse themselves in these stories,” said Sun Bang, co-founder and CEO of Tappytoon. “Fast forward to today and we’re astonished by Tappytoon‘s growth and the new opportunities to expand our content footprint with our partners.”

The global webtoon market value is estimated to be $3.7 billion in 2021 according to a much-quoted report by Allied Market Research. Even more eye-popping, the same report estimates the market to grow to $56 billion by 2030, an audience mostly comprised of millennials, Gen Zers, and females.

Tappytoon ias not as well known in the US as rivals Tapas and Webtoon, but it is growing, and planning to grow its IP by 30% yearly. It recently took a stake in global webtoon production companies C&C Revolution and Maru Comics and set up a new joint venture with Redice Studio, producers of Solo Leveling and the BTS webtoon 7Fates: Chakho. (You’ve heard of BTS; they have an army.) Tappytoon has also partnered with CJ ENM, a leading Korean agency, to convert K-dramas into webtoons and web novels.

To make this info dump a little more easily parsed, Tappytoon made this mega infographic to spell it all out. It includes links to all kinds of stories extolling the growth potential of webtoons globally – so next time you’re making a pitch deck feel free to quote these stats; you’re welcome.

Click to access Tappytoon_Infographic_raw.pdf

221203_Tappytoon Infographic-compressed

1 COMMENT

Comments are closed.