RealDraw Secures 2.2 Billion KRW in Pre-Series A Funding

AI-Based Webtoon Production Company
Alto Ventures Leads Investment

RealDraw, an AI-based webtoon production company led by CEO Choi Sang-gyu, announced on the 12th that it has secured a pre-Series A investment worth approximately 2.2 billion KRW. This round was led by Altos Ventures, with Yoon Min-chang Investment Foundation participating as a follow-up investor after its seed investment.

RealDraw was established in June this year. It aims to streamline the webtoon drawing process and support the production of large-scale, high-quality webtoons. Through advanced research and development (R&D), the company’s technology learns the artist’s drawing style and meticulously expresses human emotions. Based on this technology, RealDraw plans to collaborate with renowned artists and expand into a global-level production studio, growing into a technology-based content provider.

Founder and CEO Choi Sang-gyu previously led webtoon production and development projects at Watcha. Key team members include art directors and technical leaders with experience in webtoon and game production at Watcha, NCSoft, and other companies.

With the expansion of the webtoon market, the way artists work is changing. Unlike in the past when a single webtoon artist handled all tasks, now a studio collective of 10 to 20 people is involved in creation. However, this leads to challenges such as inconsistent drawing styles due to multiple hands and difficulties in stabilizing content quality under tight deadlines. RealDraw’s strategy is to enhance the efficiency of this webtoon production environment and transform into a global content studio.

CEO Choi Sang-gyu said, "Having worked in the webtoon industry for several years, I have personally experienced that the most important factors are the creativity and rights of the artists. We aim to help artists create webtoons of a higher level in the global market through AI, and ultimately become a global content studio like Pixar."

Partner Oh Moon-seok of Altos Ventures stated, "The webtoon market has emerged as another opportunity to globalize K-content, but the creative process has remained labor-intensive, limiting market expansion. We believe RealDraw will grow into a global content production company that enhances the quality of works based on technology, which led us to decide on this investment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.