Monster Ryot, a South Korean startup specializing in IP content planning and webtoon production, has secured seed investment from Series Ventures. Located in Busan, Monster Ryot is a webtoon studio renowned for its spectacular action scenes and fast-paced storytelling. It has gained global recognition for its serialized works and has been selected for the Korea Creative Content Agency‘s Japan K-Content Company Support Program. The studio is preparing to establish a branch in Japan by the end of August.

With the newly secured investment, Monster Ryot plans to focus on expanding its lineup of original IPs, including its own webtoon IPs. The studio will adopt a transmedia strategy from the planning stages, facilitating expansion into various media such as games and animation.

In particular, Monster Ryot intends to introduce generative AI into the labor-intensive webtoon production process, reducing labor costs and expenses. This proprietary content solution is expected to attract interest from various industry stakeholders looking for efficient webtoon production methods.

Monster Ryot was founded by artist Ko Jin-ho, who has 30 years of experience ranging from print comics to the webtoon series “Terraman,” along with team members with over 10 years of experience. The studio has successfully positioned itself in the industry by consistently ranking all its ongoing series at the top through stable artwork production. This achievement has led to continuous collaboration offers from global companies, despite being a startup. Recently, Monster Ryot signed an exclusive content supply contract (MCP) with Japanese retail giant Rakuten and an IP production collaboration agreement with Ussistant Studio, a spin-off from Riot Games in the United States.

Kim Hyung-chul, Senior Manager at Series Ventures, commented on the investment decision, saying, “In a growing content market, Monster Ryot is expected to become a unique content startup in Korea that secures both profitability and growth potential by acquiring a diverse range of high-quality IPs.”

Ko Jin-ho, CEO of Monster Ryot, stated, “With this investment, we will accelerate the construction of our own universe and expand our content areas. By training specialized artists who can utilize generative AI, we aim to improve the structure of the webtoon industry and become a webtoon studio beloved by readers.”