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LINE Digital Frontier Takes Stake in Japan's Number Nine Webtoon Studio
Source: LINE Digital Frontier

LINE Digital Frontier Takes Stake in Japan's Number Nine Webtoon Studio

Japanese manga platform operator acquires stake in Number Nine to boost local content creation ecosystem for global reach

Philip Lee profile image
by Philip Lee

Tokyo, Japan- LINE Digital Frontier, the Japanese service operator of NAVER Webtoon, has acquired an undisclosed stake in Japanese digital manga agency Number Nine to accelerate its local content creation ecosystem.

Number Nine, established in 2016 in Japan, has expanded its business from digital manga intermediary services to webtoon production. 

The company's webtoons, "Savior of Fresh Blood" and "I Am the Only Transcendent," ranked in the top 10 of the LINE Manga 2024 rankings.

These titles are distributed globally through NAVER Webtoon's Korean, English, and French platforms.

This is Webtoon Entertainment, LINE Digital Frontier's parent company, 's first investment in a Japanese webtoon production studio. 

According to data from mobile market research firm Sensor Tower for August-September 2024, LINE Digital Frontier's LINE Manga platform maintains its position as the highest-grossing comic app in Japan's overall app market, including games.

"Our efforts to build a Japanese creative ecosystem are leading to solid business growth and hit productions in Japan," said Kim Jun-koo, CEO of Webtoon Entertainment and NAVER Webtoon

"Through this expanded partnership between the two companies that created the global hit 'Savior of Fresh Blood,' we expect to showcase more competitive works to readers worldwide."

The investment amount and size of the acquired stake were not disclosed.

Philip Lee profile image
by Philip Lee

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