Nook Media Valuation, Funding & Investors

RIDI is a South Korean digital content platform often described as the country's Kindle, built around e-book retailer Ridibooks alongside Manta Comics, a subscription webtoon service, and Laftel, an animation streaming service. Founded in 2008, the Seoul-based company spans web novels, webtoons, video, and original soundtracks, competing with Naver and Kakao in Korea's webtoon and web novel markets. It has also pursued licensing deals to supply intellectual property to streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney Plus.

Kuaikan Manhua is a Shanghai-based online comics platform founded in 2014 targeting young readers with original digital artwork. It hosts thousands of titles in romance, action, and slice-of-life genres via app and website at www.kuaikanmanhua.com. Backed by Tencent, it dominates China's comic market and fosters creator communities.

NewsBreak is a Mountain View-headquartered app delivering hyper-local news from 10,000 U.S. sources to 40 million users. Founded in 2015 by former Baidu engineers, it achieved unicorn valuation in 2021 with $115 million Series C funding. The platform monetizes through publisher tools and local ad campaigns, expanding to 500 cities.

Red Ventures is a Charlotte-headquartered digital holding company founded in 2000 that owns and operates media brands including Bankrate, Healthline, The Points Guy, CNET, Lifewire, and Payscale. It delivers personalized content and marketing services across finance, health, travel, education, home services, and entertainment sectors. The company maintains offices in 10 US cities plus locations in London and Sao Paulo, powering consumer decision-making through data-driven platforms and partnerships with lenders and service providers. Red Ventures expanded its portfolio by acquiring CNET in 2020 and continues to integrate AI for enhanced user experiences.

Yidian Zixun is a China-based personalized news aggregation app founded in 2011 by former Baidu vice president Ren Xuyang. The platform uses recommendation algorithms to deliver customized content to users, competing with ByteDance's Toutiao in China's news app market. Phoenix New Media became Yidian's largest shareholder through a series of investments, and the app grew to tens of millions of daily active users.

Kadokawa Corp is a Japan based publisher and digital content platform provider. It is involved in various businesses such as publishing, film, publishing rights, digital contents, planning, development and operation of network entertainment service, and contents and operation of video- sharing website.

Kakao Corp is a technology and platform company engaged in digital services, content, mobility, and financial technology businesses. The company operates through seven reportable segments. The Kakao segment provides advertising and platform-based service offerings. The Kakao Games segment covers game development, publishing, and related services. The Kakao Entertainment segment focuses on entertainment planning and content production, and distribution. Kakao Mobility offers database-based information provision services, while Kakao Pay provides mobile platform-based financial services. Kakao Piccoma operates a platform for webtoon and web-novel supply, and the SM Entertainment segment engages in entertainment planning and content production.

News Corporation is a diversified media and information services conglomerate with significant presence in the US, the UK, and Australia. Key mastheads include The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, New York Post, The Times, The Sun, The Australian, Herald Sun, and The Daily Telegraph. Its 61%-owned REA Group is the dominant property listings platform in Australia. In addition, it owns Harper Collins, one of the largest book publishers in the world, and has a sizable US digital property advertising business, Move. The 65% interest in Foxtel, the Australian pay-TV and streaming provider, was sold in April 2025. The sale to global sports streaming platform, DAZN, was struck at more than 7 times Foxtel's EBITDA.

Sanoma Oyj is a learning and media company. The group publishes magazines and newspapers along with educational learning literature and services. It operates in two segments: Learning and Media Finland. Sanoma's learning products and services enable teachers to develop the talents of every child to reach their full potential. The company offers printed and digital learning content as well as digital learning and teaching platforms for primary, secondary and vocational education. The Finnish media business of Sanoma provides information, experiences, inspiration, and entertainment via multiple media platforms: newspapers, radio, television, events, magazines, online, and mobile channels. The company's publications include Helsingin Sanomat, IltaSanomat among others.

Visual China Group Co Ltd is engaged in providing digital visual content and visual solutions to customers in media, commercial, and consumer sectors. It services include Copyright removal, rights protection agent, Sports, Entertainment and Digital marketing, and Special shooting.

TX Group AG is a Swiss company with a network of digital platforms. It offers information, orientation, entertainment, and services to its users every day. The company provides newspapers and magazines. The company's operating segments include TX Markets; Goldbach; 20 Minuten; Tamedia and Group and Ventures. It generates maximum revenue from the Tamedia segment.

Alma Media Oyj is a media and service company focusing on digital services and publishing. In addition to news content, the Group's products provide useful information related to lifestyle, career, and business development. The business segments include Alma Career, Alma Marketplaces, and Alma News Media. It generates maximum revenue from the Alma Career segment. The group's business is mainly divided into two geographical areas, Finland from where it earns the majority of its revenue, and the rest of Europe.

USA Today Co Inc is a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level, dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. It prioritizes a digital-first approach, focusing on audience growth and engagement while diversifying revenue streams. Through its trusted brands, including the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations, including a network of local properties, in the United States, and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom, provide essential journalism, local content, and digital experiences to audiences and businesses. Its digital marketing solutions brand, LocaliQ, supports small and medium-sized businesses with digital marketing products and solutions.

New York Times Co is an American media company known for publishing its flagship newspaper, The New York Times. The company also operates the International New York Times newspaper, as well as digital properties such as NYTimes and various smartphone applications. The company derives revenue from subscriptions, advertising, and other sources, where the majority of its revenue is generated through subscriptions, which consist of income from standalone and multiproduct bundle subscriptions to its digital products and subscriptions to and single-copy and bulk sales of print products.

Lightricks is a Herzliya-based creator of mobile apps for photo and video editing. The company produces Facetune for selfie enhancement, Videoleap for video creation, and Photoleap for AI-powered image manipulation. Founded in 2013, Lightricks serves over 100 million users worldwide through its suite of tools that incorporate AI, machine learning, and computer vision. Available on iOS and Android, the apps enable quick content creation for social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. The Israel-headquartered firm expanded into enterprise solutions and maintains development teams in Europe and the US.

Akulaku Group is a Jakarta-headquartered fintech firm operating in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The company delivers digital banking via Neobank, which partners with Bank Neo Commerce, alongside virtual credit cards, buy-now-pay-later financing, e-commerce, wealth management through Asetku, digital investments, and insurance brokerage. Akulaku targets underserved consumers in emerging markets with mobile-first financial tools that address daily needs like payments and loans.

Glance is a Bangalore-headquartered lock screen content platform delivering personalized news, videos, and shopping via AI on smartphones from Samsung and Xiaomi. Pre-installed on devices in India and Southeast Asia, it aggregates content in Hindi, Tamil, and other languages. Part of InMobi Group, Glance operates Roposo short-video service for entertainment and live commerce.

Voodoo is a Paris-headquartered mobile game publisher specializing in hypercasual titles such as Helix Jump and Aquapark.io. The studio develops and distributes free-to-play games across iOS and Android platforms worldwide.