ThePaper.cn Funding, Investors & Competitors

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.

Pocket FM is an India-based audio entertainment platform, founded in 2018, offering short- and long-form audio series and podcasts in regional languages including Bengali, Tamil, and Hindi. The platform hosts more than 100,000 hours of content and 400,000 episodes across genres such as romance, self-help, and motivation, monetizing through microtransactions and subscriptions on a freemium, pay-as-you-go model. Pocket FM has expanded from India into the United States and other international markets, reaching over 200 million users and processing tens of millions of paid transactions.

iQiyi Sports is a Beijing-based streaming service under iQiyi providing live and on-demand sports content including football, basketball, and esports events. It covers Chinese Super League matches and international tournaments via its dedicated platform. Launched as part of iQiyi's diversification, it integrates with the parent company's video ecosystem.

Panda TV was a Shanghai-based online video streaming platform founded in 2015 that focused on live broadcasting of video games and esports content, letting users stream and watch live gameplay. Backed by investors including LeCloud and Qihoo 360, it grew rapidly to claim over 80 million monthly active users and 150,000 active presenters at its peak. The platform ceased operations around 2019 after failing to secure further financing amid intense competition in China's live-streaming market.

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.

RUM Group Inc focused is to maximize the power of human imagination through an independent technology ecosystem built on privacy, resilience, and an open alternative to Big Tech. Rumble gives human creativity a voice, a video and media platform built for creators and audiences who value free expression. Quake AI is a cloud and AI-infrastructure business, delivering the compute, data-center capacity, and blockchain infrastructure for the agentic era.

Comcast is made up of three parts. The core cable business owns networks capable of providing television, internet access, and phone services to 65 million US homes and businesses, or nearly half of the country. The firm provides services to about 47% of the locations in this territory. Comcast acquired NBCUniversal from General Electric in 2011. Following the spinoff of several cable networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, and USA, NBCU now consists of the NBC network, several local NBC affiliates, Bravo, the Peacock streaming platform, Universal Studios, and several theme parks. Finally, Sky, acquired in 2018, is a large television provider in the UK and Italy.

Epic Games is a Cary, North Carolina-headquartered video game developer and software provider. The company creates the Unreal Engine, licensed for high-fidelity games and 3D applications on PC, consoles, mobile, and VR platforms. Epic develops titles such as Fortnite, released in 2017, and Rocket League via Psyonix acquisition, while operating the Epic Games Store since 2018 to support indie developers with an 88/12 revenue split.

Labs is a Santa Monica, California-headquartered holding company overseeing labs in AI, immersive realities, blockchain, and human enhancement technologies. Restructured in 2025 from LavLabs Inc., it manages entities like Labs Intelligence, Labs Realities, and Labs Crypto, alongside brands such as Yuhmmy for social-taste experiences. The firm supports ecosystems in finance, realty, education, and entertainment through its family of specialized labs.

Kakao Entertainment is a Seoul-headquartered entertainment powerhouse resulting from the 2021 merger of Kakao Page and Kakao M. It manages over 50 subsidiaries covering webtoons, digital novels, music production, film distribution, TV dramas, and live performances. Kakao Page specializes in original IP creation and global platforms reaching Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia, while the Kakao M division nurtures K-pop artists, produces concerts, and invests in series like Vincenzo and films such as Hunt. The company distributes content via partnerships with platforms like Netflix and Tving, establishing dominance in Korea's digital entertainment ecosystem.

Icon Health & Fitness is a global subscription technology company delivering interactive personal training via iFIT. It powers brands including NordicTrack, ProForm, Weider, Freemotion, and Sweat with a platform integrating software, on-location workout content, and connected hardware. Members access trainer-led sessions that automatically adjust equipment settings across studio classes, global workouts, cross-training, and Google Maps routes worldwide.

Patreon is a San Francisco-headquartered membership platform empowering over two million creators with recurring fan support. Launched in 2013, it hosts podcasts, videos, art, and music, allowing patrons to fund exclusive content through monthly pledges. The service processes billions in payouts annually, serving artists in gaming, writing, and visual media worldwide.

Rec Room is a San Francisco-headquartered social VR platform supporting multiplayer games and user-generated worlds on Oculus Quest, PlayStation VR, and PC. Launched in 2016, the service hosts daily events for millions of users across basketball courts, paintball arenas, and custom rooms created with its toolkit.

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.

Le Sports is the sports arm of Chinese internet company LeEco, building a sports ecosystem that combines content streaming, live events, and internet services. The company held broadcast rights to leagues including the Chinese Super League, the English Premier League, and the NFL, and pursued smart products and stakes in sports venues and teams. It also invested in adjacent businesses such as webcasting platform 17 Media and soccer data firm Sodasoccer to broaden its sports-media reach.

Dadi Cinema is a Guangzhou-headquartered subsidiary of Nan Hai Corp managing theaters across China since 2006. It oversees construction, operations, technology R&D, film distribution, investment, and production. As of 2017, it runs 455 theaters with 2664 screens in 29 provinces and 178 cities including OSGH venues.