Daewon Media Forms 'Webtoon Alliance' with Kakao in Japan... Establishes Joint Venture

Establishment of Joint Venture 'Sherpa Studio' with Kakao Japan
Active Expansion into Japanese Market via 'Piccoma' Platform

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Daewon Media is entering the Japanese webtoon market by establishing a joint venture with Kakao.

Daewon Media announced on the 15th that its subsidiary Storyjak is establishing a local joint venture in Japan called 'Sherpa Studio' together with Kakao Japan. This launch comes amid fierce global competition for content acquisition, based on mutual understanding and trust between the two companies regarding the importance of securing original intellectual property (IP) such as webtoons and web novels.

Through the establishment of the joint venture, Daewon Media will be able to utilize Kakao Japan's platform 'Piccoma,' which holds the number one market share in the Japanese webtoon market, as a content distribution channel to enter the Japanese market. Kakao Japan will secure various new contents from Storyjak through 'Sherpa Studio.' Storyjak is a subsidiary newly established by Daewon Media in the second half of last year to strengthen its online content business, including webtoons and web novels. The two companies plan to pursue various discussions on overseas business beyond Japan in the future.

A Daewon Media official stated, "The collaboration was possible thanks to Daewon Media's long-established capabilities related to Japanese IP and the partnership recognized locally in Japan," adding, "Along with the overseas digital content business that began with the entry of our subsidiary Daewon CI into the Chinese market, we will develop a global webtoon business based on the Japanese market through Storyjak as a two-track strategy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.