inkr Secures $3.1M Funding to Expand Global Comic Access

INKR Secures $3.1 Million to Expand Global Digital Comics Access

INKR is a digital comics platform designed to overcome both cultural and linguistic barriers, empowering creators to connect with a worldwide audience through its unique localization technology. Having initially relied on self-funding, the company recently announced the successful completion of a pre-Series A funding round, raising $3.1 million. This funding was spearheaded by Monk’s Hill Ventures, with additional investment from Stu Levy, the founder and CEO of manga distributor TokyoPop.

Company Overview and Growth

Established in 2019 by Ken Luong, Khoa Nguyen, and Hieu Tran, INKR maintains its headquarters in Singapore and operates an additional office in Ho Chi Minh City. Since its launch in October 2020, the platform has experienced a 200% increase in monthly average users.

Currently, INKR collaborates with over 70 content creators and publishers. These include prominent names such as FanFan, Image Comics, Kodansha USA, Kuaikan, Mr. Blue, SB Creative, TokyoPop, and Toons Family. The platform boasts a library of more than 800 titles, encompassing manga, webtoons, and graphic novels.

Future Plans and Creator Focus

According to Luong, INKR’s CEO, the initial focus will remain on delivering translated comics from leading global publishers. However, the platform intends to broaden its scope in 2022 to include smaller, independent creators.

The Core of INKR: Localization Technology

A key differentiator for INKR is its advanced localization technology, which significantly reduces the time required to prepare comics for diverse markets – from days to mere hours.

“The process of comics localization extends far beyond simple translation,” Luong explained. “It’s a complex, time-intensive undertaking involving numerous stages and personnel – encompassing file management, transcription, translation, typesetting, sound effect integration, and rigorous quality control.”

Addressing Global Comic Style Variations

Publishers must also consider the stylistic variations in comics across different regions, including Japanese manga, Chinese manhua, Korean manhwa, and American comics. These variations extend to page layout – whether page-by-page or vertical scrolling – and reading direction, which differs between left-to-right and right-to-left languages.

INKR’s proprietary AI engine, known as INKR Comics Vision, is capable of identifying various formats and elements within a comic page. This includes recognizing text, dialogue, characters, facial expressions, backgrounds, and individual panels. Complementing this, INKR Localize, a tool designed for human translators, streamlines their workflow by automating tasks like text transcription, vocabulary suggestions, and typesetting, thereby accelerating accurate translations.

Collaborative Localization Tools

Recognizing that localization is often a team effort involving individuals in different locations, INKR provides browser-based collaboration software to facilitate seamless teamwork. The platform currently supports translations between Japanese-English, Korean-English, and Chinese-English, with plans for expanding language support in the future. Publishers like Kuaikan Manhua and Mr. Blue have already leveraged INKR to translate thousands of comic chapters from Chinese and Korean into English.

Monetization Options for Creators

INKR offers content creators a range of monetization models, including ad-supported access, subscription fees, and pay-per-chapter options. The platform utilizes data analysis to advise publishers on the optimal model for maximizing revenue and shares a portion of the generated income.

Competition in the Digital Comics Landscape

INKR is positioned within a competitive market alongside other digital comics platforms such as Amazon-owned Comixology and Webtoon, the publishing portal operated by Naver Corporation.

Luong highlighted INKR’s competitive strengths as the breadth of its comic offerings and its affordable pricing structure. Prior to its launch, the company invested heavily in data and AI-driven technology for both readers and publishers. This includes personalized recommendations for users based on their reading habits, and analytics for publishers to track title performance based on consumption patterns.

Investor Confidence

Justin Nguyen, a general partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures, stated that INKR’s “proprietary AI-driven platform is resolving key challenges for creators and publishers seeking to embrace digital distribution and global reach – enabling rapid and cost-effective localization for multiple languages, while also enhancing reach and readership through analytics and intelligent, personalized content feeds.” He expressed enthusiasm for partnering with INKR to meet the substantial global demand for translated comics.