Digital comics platform INKR raises US$3.1m in pre-Series A funding round

DIGITAL comics platform INKR has raised US$3.1 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Monk's Hill Ventures.

The platform hosts more than 800 manga, manhua, webtoons and graphic novels which readers can access through a nominal subscription fee or pay-per-chapter model. It also uses proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) tech and analytics to shorten the time publishers and content creators need to localise their content to other languages.

Founder and chief executive officer of TokyoPop Stu Levy and VI Management also participated in the round.

Partner of Monk's Hill Ventures Justin Nguyen said that the company's suite of products has the potential to change how comics are localised, distributed and consumed worldwide.

"Its proprietary AI-driven platform is addressing pain points for creators and publishers who need to go digital and global, localizing for many languages quickly and cost-effectively while also helping them improve reach and readership through analytics and intelligent personalized feeds," he noted.

According to INKR, it has grown its monthly active users by 200 per cent since its inception in October 2020.

The company is also currently working with over 70 comic publishers and creators, including Image Comics, Kodansha USA, Kuaikan, Mr. Blue and TokyoPop.