Kakao Piccoma Valuation, Funding & Investors

Kakao Piccoma is valued at $7.3B as of May 2021.

Last Kakao Piccoma valuation

$7.3B

Undisclosed stage · May 2021

Last Kakao Piccoma funding round

$550M

Undisclosed stage · May 2021

Cumulative funding Kakao Piccoma raised

$550M

across 1 funding round

Key investors in Kakao Piccoma

  • Anchor Equity Partners

Kakao Piccoma Overview

About Kakao Piccoma

Kakao Japan, renamed Kakao Piccoma Corporation in November 2021, is the Tokyo-based Japanese subsidiary of South Korea's Kakao that operates Piccoma, a digital manga and webtoon platform. The company was established in 2011 to promote Kakao's messaging services in Japan and launched Piccoma in April 2016 for smartphones, tablets and personal computers. Piccoma sells individual chapters of Japanese manga and translated Korean webtoons from Kakao's content businesses, and lets readers unlock some chapters free after waiting 24 hours; it earns revenue mainly from paid chapter purchases. Piccoma has been the top-grossing comic app in Japan since July 2020, and in May 2021 the company raised about KRW 600 billion from Anchor Equity Partners and overseas sovereign wealth funds at a valuation of about KRW 8.8 trillion. Kakao remains the controlling shareholder, with Kakao Entertainment holding a further stake. The company opened a French-language Piccoma service in Europe but closed it in September 2024 to concentrate on Japan.


Founded

2011

HQ

JapanTokyo

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2C

Revenue model

Advertising

Valuation

$7.3B (May 2021)

Kakao Piccoma Valuation

Kakao Piccoma is currently valued at $7.3B, based on its undisclosed-stage round in May 2021. Read the announcement ↗

The $550M round was led by Anchor Equity Partners.

Kakao Piccoma valuation by funding round

Kakao Piccoma valuation by funding round
DateStageValuation
May 2021Undisclosed stage$7.3B

Kakao Piccoma Funding History

Kakao Piccoma has raised a total of $550M across 1 funding round.

Kakao Piccoma funding rounds

Kakao Piccoma funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
May 2021Undisclosed stageAnchor Equity Partners (lead)$550M$7.3BKakao Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Kakao Corp. specializing in webtoon services through its Piccoma platform, secured a 600 billion KRW investment led by Anchor Equity Partners via the Ryan & Friends Fund in May 2021. The deal involved issuing 67,930 new shares at 8.28 million KRW per share for 560 billion KRW, plus 40 billion KRW for secondary shares, resulting in Ryan & Friends acquiring a 7.8% stake. Post-investment ownership stood at Kakao with 72.9%, Kakao Entertainment with 18.2%, and Ryan & Friends with 7.8%. The transaction valued Kakao Japan at 8.8 trillion KRW (approximately $7.8 billion USD), marking the largest external investment in a Japanese content company that year and the first such funding for a Kakao overseas subsidiary. This valuation exceeded earlier internal projections of 6 trillion KRW and positioned it closer to rival Naver Webtoon's 10 trillion KRW estimate. The funding served as strategic preparation for a planned 2022 IPO, enabling expansion of the Piccoma platform, creator nurturing, and global webtoon content development. Proceeds were earmarked for investing in Piccoma, fostering creators, securing competitive intellectual properties, and entering new business areas to solidify market leadership in Japan's webtoon sector, described as a cartoon sanctuary. Kakao Japan had recently launched studios like Studio1Pic in Seoul and Sherpa Studio with Daewon Media to boost original webtoon production. Kakao Entertainment's acquisitions of US platforms Radish Fiction and Tapas Media complemented these efforts in the growing global webtoon market. Anchor Equity Partners, a global investment group, led the round with participation from overseas sovereign wealth funds, highlighting Kakao Japan's dominance in Japan's webtoon market. Industry observers anticipated the capital would enhance collaborations, strengthen operations, and drive higher valuations ahead of the IPO, while positioning Kakao to expand its global influence.

Who has invested in Kakao Piccoma?

1 investor has backed Kakao Piccoma across its funding rounds, including Anchor Equity Partners.

Lead investors include Anchor Equity Partners.


Kakao Piccoma Investors

Investors in Kakao Piccoma by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check

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Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples

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Acquisitions by Kakao Piccoma

Kakao Piccoma has acquired 2 companies to date.

Last acquisition by Kakao Piccoma was on January 16th 2023. Kakao Piccoma acquired Voithru for $23M.


Latest Acquisitions by Kakao Piccoma

Voithru
SAKURA Exchange BitCoin
Description
Voithru is a Seoul-based AI platform for crowdsourced subtitles and content localization. The service combines machine translation with human review for videos, offering analytics on viewer engagement. Voithru supports creators on YouTube and OTT platforms with multilingual captioning in over 50 languages.
SAKURA Exchange BitCoin is a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange registered with Japan's Financial Services Agency. The platform enables seamless purchase, sale, and trading of Bitcoin and altcoins using Japanese yen. It provides funding options through bank transfers and offers advisory services on digital asset investments for retail and institutional users in the Japanese market.
HQ CountrySouth KoreaJapan
HQ City
Gangneung
Osaka
Deal Date16 Jan 20234 Apr 2022
Valuation$23Mundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Investments by Kakao Piccoma

Kakao Piccoma has invested in 1 company to date.

Latest investment by Kakao Piccoma was on May 10th 2022. Kakao Piccoma invested in Minto in their $5M Seed round.


Latest Investments by Kakao Piccoma

Minto
Description
Minto is a Tokyo-based platform building a creator economy for manga and anime production. Established in 2020, it provides end-to-end support including storyboarding, animation tools, distribution on apps like Crunchyroll, and performance analytics. Serving over 5,000 creators, Minto has facilitated 100+ series launches, partnering with publishers such as Shueisha for global fan monetization.
HQ CountryJapan
HQ City
Tokyo
Deal Date10 May 2022
RoundSeed
Raised$5M
InvestorsOLM Ventures; Mizuho Capital; MITSUI SUMITOMO INSURANCE Venture Capital (MSIVC)
Valuationundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Kakao Piccoma Competitors

Kakao Piccoma competitors include listed companies like Match Group, Kakao, Life360 and Strive, and private ones like Miaopai and Telegram.

Public and private companies comparable to Kakao Piccoma
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
Match GroupUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$3.5B$939M$9.5B3.6x
KakaoSouth KoreaSouth KoreaPublicly listed$6.1B$1.1B$9.8B0.6x
Life360United StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$489M$32M$3.6B5.4x
MiaopaiChinaBeijingPrivate--$3B-
StriveUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$4M($21M)$2.8B309.8x
TelegramUAEDubaiPrivate--$30B-

Kakao Piccoma Public Comps

Kakao Piccoma is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Kunlun, Duolingo, Doximity, Snap, Match Group, Kakao, JOYY, Life360, Pinterest and Strive.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Kunlun$1.2B($232M)5.2x4.2x(27.9x)51.0x
Duolingo$1B$152M4.8x4.2x32.5x15.5x
Doximity$645M$229M8.0x7.8x22.6x15.4x
Snap$5.9B($300M)1.8x1.6x(35.4x)8.7x
Match Group$3.5B$939M3.6x3.6x13.3x9.5x
Kakao$6.1B$1.1B0.6x0.6x3.6x3.0x
JOYY$2.1B$160M1.3x1.1x16.7x11.8x
Life360$489M$32M7.1x5.4x107.5x27.2x

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Common questions about Kakao Piccoma

When was Kakao Piccoma founded?Kakao Piccoma was founded in 2011.
Where is Kakao Piccoma headquartered?Kakao Piccoma is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Is Kakao Piccoma publicly listed?No, Kakao Piccoma is a private, VC-backed company.
What is Kakao Piccoma's valuation?Kakao Piccoma was last valued at $7.3B in its undisclosed-stage round in May 2021.
How much funding has Kakao Piccoma raised?Kakao Piccoma has raised $550M across 1 funding round.
What was Kakao Piccoma's last funding round?Kakao Piccoma's last funding round was a $550M undisclosed-stage round in May 2021, led by Anchor Equity Partners.
Who are Kakao Piccoma's investors?Kakao Piccoma's investors include Anchor Equity Partners.
Which companies are comparable to Kakao Piccoma?Companies comparable to Kakao Piccoma include Match Group, Kakao, Life360, Miaopai, Strive and Telegram.
How many companies has Kakao Piccoma acquired?Kakao Piccoma has acquired 2 companies, including Voithru and SAKURA Exchange BitCoin.
What was the largest acquisition by Kakao Piccoma?The $23M acquisition of Voithru in January 2023 is the largest acquisition Kakao Piccoma has made to date.
How many companies has Kakao Piccoma invested in?Kakao Piccoma has invested in 1 company, including Minto.
What was Kakao Piccoma's last investment?In May 2022, Kakao Piccoma invested in Minto's $5M seed round alongside OLM Ventures, Mizuho Capital and MITSUI SUMITOMO INSURANCE Venture Capital (MSIVC).

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