It’s no news that India is a huge market for entertainment businesses, but what often doesn’t get mentioned is that its people love to see content in their own languages. According to a recent survey by non-profit Internet and Mobile Association of India, more than 870 million Indians sought out videos, music and other content in Indian languages in 2024, and of those, 57% preferred content in local languages.
Toonsutra, a platform for webtoons in India, is trying to leverage the rise in internet usage in the country and this preference for localized content. The company essentially licenses various comics from different corners of the world, arranges them into episodes, and translates them into Indian languages. It currently offers comics in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu via its Android and iOS apps.
“We looked at the problem of India lacking access to top webtoon titles in snackable format and different languages and thought there is a big opportunity here. We want to grow comics culture in India and create fandoms around it,” co-founder and CEO Vishal Anand told TechCrunch.
Toonsutra monetizes via in-app purchases: A few episodes in each title are free, and users have to unlock the rest by spending “coins” that they can either purchase outright, or earn by reading more comics. The company is also experimenting with subscription plans and per-episode purchases.
Anand said the platform has more than half-a-million monthly active users, and is growing steadily. That’s decent traction for a startup that’s been around for less than two years, and investors seem to like the opportunity this presents to enter this relatively underserved market: Toonsutra has raised $5.9 million to date across multiple rounds from the likes of Sony Innovation Fund, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Google, and Maiora Capital, as well as Funimation founder Gen Fukunaga, Crunchyroll co-founder Kun Gao, Lightspeed partner Jeremy Liew, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, and Rotten Tomatoes co-founder Patrick Lee.
While it’s a big name to have on your cap table, Google isn’t new to this space. The tech giant has backed several startups in India targeting regional content, including Social network ShareChat, lock screen app Glance, Verse Innovation (operates short video platform Josh and news app Dailyhunt), and audio platform Kuku FM.
Filmon Zerai, the co-CEO of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, which runs Nature, said the company decided to invest in Toonsutra to diversify itss regional and format strategy. “An investment in Toonsutra gives us visibility in the Indian market, which is a dynamic and growing content market. Plus, the startup is an innovative venture with new monetization techniques to succeed in the market,” Zerai told TechCrunch.
Anand, the former CPO of Dailyhunt, founded Toonsutra in 2023 with Sharad Devarajan, the CEO of animation company Graphic India and digital entertainment firm Liquid Comics.
Toonsutra has a rival in Matrix Partners India-backed Dashtoons, which uses an AI creation suite to generate content; PocketFM, which is venturing into creating webtoons; and Krafton-backed Pratilipi, which has a platform for comics in Indian languages.
But Anand pointed out that Toonsutra is not trying to create a platform for writers to adapt their stories to comics. Instead, the company wants to rely on curation and use AI to adapt titles to different languages. “Our intention is to be a Netflix rather than YouTube. Because if people associate you with three or four mediocre titles, it is hard to build a brand. We are trying to get exclusive titles on our platform with high quality and high trust,” Anand said.
The company’s partnership with Google also helps it gain access to the search giant’s models with which it wants to translate and adapt comics to Indian languages, he added.
Analysts predict anime and webtoons will see healthy growth in India. For example, anime streaming service Crunchyroll has invested heavily in India — its subscription plans here are tailored to Indian price levels, and its catalog even has anime dubbed in some local languages.