Korea, US-based serialized fiction app gets $63m
SoftBank Ventures Asia and Kakao have led a $63.2 million Series A round for Radish, a Korea and US-based producer and broadcaster of serialized fiction for mobile devices.
Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Partners Investment, and Daekyo Investment also contributed. Kakao is participating via its media marketplace Kakao Page.
Radish raised a $3 million seed round in 2017 that featured SoftBank’s Next Media Innovation Fund, Sherpa Capital, Lowercase Capital, Greylock Partners, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, and talent agency UTA. Early investors also include Charlie Songhurst, formerly Microsoft’s head of corporate strategy. Total funding to date comes to $68.2 million.
“With its own fast-paced original content production, Radish is best positioned to become a leading player in the global online fiction market,” JP Lee, CEO of SoftBank Ventures Asia, said in a statement. “Radish has proven that its serialized novel platform can change the way people consume online content, and we are excited to support the company’s continued disruption in the mobile fiction space.”
Radish specializes in fiction across a range of genres that are deliverable in episodes as short as 10 minutes. The hyper-serialized approach is designed to be habit-forming, with a micropayments system that encourages frequent repeat use in order to access new content that follows cliffhanger endings. The company has produced more than 6,500 episodes for 30 original series with a team of experienced TV writers. Payments can be as low as $0.20 per episode.
SoftBank Ventures said it would leverage its ecosystem to support a global expansion. This effort will include the establishment of a Los Angeles office in the near term. There are already bases in Seoul and New York. This will see the Radish team grow from about 45 to 70 within the year. The company’s revenue is said to have grown 25x during the past year.
Kakao Page is part of Kakao’s mobile content platform Podotree, which has received KRW125 billion from Anchor Equity Partners. It plans to leverage its partnership with Radish to expand into North America. Separately, Anchor paid KRW210 billion for a 13% stake in Kakao’s music and entertainment division Kakao M.
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