Naver Webtoon Launches 'Canvas' to Support Creators

First Appearance at CES 2025
Building a Global Ecosystem in Multiple Languages

David Lee, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Webtoon Entertainment, spoke at a side event of 'CES 2025,' the world's largest information technology (IT) and consumer electronics exhibition, held in Las Vegas, USA, on the 8th (local time). Photo by Variety

Naver Webtoon made its debut at CES 2025, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, emphasizing 'Canvas,' a platform that discovers and supports local creators. Naver Webtoon plans to build a global creator ecosystem through Canvas.

According to industry sources on the 13th, David Lee, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Webtoon Entertainment, the parent company of Naver Webtoon, delivered a keynote speech at the Variety Entertainment Summit on the 8th (local time), explaining the growth of webtoons and their impact on the global entertainment market.

COO Lee stated, "As a tech and artificial intelligence (AI) company, we have worked hard to enable anyone with a sense of images called web novels or webtoons to easily create stories," adding, "We may be the only company with a core business model that shares $2.8 billion with creators."

Canvas was established to discover local amateur writers and create an ecosystem. Works in English, Spanish, German, French, Thai, Indonesian, and other languages have the opportunity to reach consumers through Canvas. Similar services operate domestically under the name 'Dojeon Manhwa' and in Japan as 'Indies.'

Rachel Smythe, a New Zealand-born writer, published her work on Canvas and proceeded to official serialization. Her fantasy romance genre work 'Lore Olympus,' which reinterprets Greek and Roman mythology, began serialization on Naver Webtoon's English service in 2018 and is now available in seven languages. It has recorded 1.7 billion cumulative views and won the prestigious 'Will Eisner Award' for three consecutive years.

A Naver Webtoon official stated, "Works discovered through the amateur system Canvas are growing into competitive intellectual properties (IP)," adding, "As works that align with local sentiments and cultures increase, a virtuous cycle leading to user growth is being created."

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