On Thursday, GlobalComix in an interview with Rob Salkowitz at Forbes announced that it had received $13 million in new capital in a round led by SBI US Gateway Fund and Point72 Ventures. It had previously raised $6.5 million in 2023. They also announced the acquisition of digital manga platform INKR adding over 200,000 volumes of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean comics as well new technology the company brings, including AI translation lettering. Finally, Henrik Rydberg has been named CEO after having joined the company as a board member in January 2025.
We’ve been digging into the venture funding in the comic industry, a rather difficult task with just glimpses of information from various sources. Thankfully a release like this makes things a bit easier to dive in to examine a rather large investment in the industry.
The reality is, today’s venture capital and investment is quite different than a decade ago. AI funding has sucked up investments and focus with over 61% of global venture capital investment going towards it in 2025 (though some put the number at 50% or more). That’s up from an estimated 27.5% of funding in 2023. In other words, unless there’s some AI hook in your tech company, it’s much more difficult to get funding resulting in fewer investments and smaller amounts in non-AI related tech. It’s an issue that has been raised regularly in 2025 and 2026 by tech firms both in and out of the comic industry.
In total GlobalComix has received $19.7 million in total funding with $13 million of that coming this March. Point72 ventures was part of the Series A funding for the platform in 2023 along with another investor not listed by Crunchbase, a platform that tracks this information. That funding round involved $6.5 million. What’s intriguing is Crunchbase has its “Heat Score” and “Growth Score” both trending down for the digital comics platform.
Sensor Tower estimates GlobalComix with an install range on Android between 500,000 and 1 million, ranked #17 in “comics downloads” in the US. Apple’s install range isn’t listed but it’s estimated to be 30,000 downloads last month, ranked #19 in “Magazines & Newspapers – Downloads” and between the two Sensor Tower estimates a revenue of about $90,000 in the previous month. Add in a reported 2.2 million monthly web visits by Crunchbase and we get an idea of where the platform stands, though the data is questionable and flimsy. Marvel Unlimited, VIZ Manga, Tapas, K Manga, Crunchyroll, Shonen Jump, MANGA Plus, and Webtoon are examples of apps that rank higher for Google Play. Trends are really what matters here, not the snapshot.
But, when it comes to venture investment, one thing is always clear, they’re looking for return on their investment.
In the interview, Rydberg states that “growth continues to accelerate.”
GlobalComix, the company has seen month-over-month increases of 20% after adding top publishers DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Kodansha and Seven Seas to its lineup, and augmenting its subscription-based pricing model with a la carte sales.
The AI Question
When it comes to AI on the platform where does GlobalComix stand? Directly from their Support FAQ:
We allow AI comics to be uploaded at this time, although that may change in the future. We also reserve the right to remove AI content at our discretion.
There are a few key things to be aware of regarding AI content, and by uploading to GlobalComix, you agree to these:
You must disclose the use of AI, whether visual(Art) or written(Story), as part of the release upload process
AI content is not eligible for monetization at this time, including but not limited to GlobalComix Gold revenue and PDF sales
The donation button is disabled in releases utilizing AI Art
We take violations of this policy very seriously. Repeat infractions, particularly around disclosure, may result in actions taken against your creator profile and GlobalComix account.
GlobalComix already was friendly towards the use of AI in the creation of the comics on its platform, but with the acquisition of INKR, the company is diving further into the controversial technology:
Rydberg says the addition of INKR enables GlobalComix to implement a suite of technologies that he characterized as “Figma for comics”: collaborative, AI-assisted tools for translating, formatting and distributing IP globally, overcoming some of the cost and timing issues related to localization.
“AI as a technology gets a lot of attention,” said Rydberg. “We see creators as the very heart of storytelling. But the same way we use computers and software to paint, we want to extend tools to creators and translators to amplify what they’re doing, to make their lives easier and more efficient. We are not in the business of creating foundational models.”
Figma is a “collaborative interface design tool” described as a “web-based graphics editor software” and has dived into app development.
In the article, Rydberg leans into INKR as a “tool” to enable translators to replace text on the “page directly in the balloons and captions, without needing the artist involved.”
There’s been a lot of discussion of the use of AI for translation services, often rejected by fans and readers, receiving a very negative response. Like many industries, the implementation of AI in translation services is costing jobs and driving down salaries. Netflix has said it would use AI for subtitles resulting in boycotts. While this doesn’t sound like a complete replacement for manual labor, any mention of AI brings caution and skepticism in the creative field.
With the acquisition of INKR it’s clear that GlobalComix is focused on that global part not only expanding its offerings but leaning into AI to allow “simpler” translations of the comics hosted on its platform.
SBI US Gateway Fund and Point72 Ventures
Point72 Ventures isn’t new when it comes to investing in GlobalComix having previously done so. Point72 Ventures invests in artificial intelligence, enterprise software, financial services, and FinTech. Crunchbase reports 249 investments with a wide range of values in investment. AI music platforms, technology for the Department of War, video games, and more. Their investments have recently been AI heavy, but diverse in industries and technology focus.
SBI US Gateway Fund is described as a “venture fund that provides funding through investment to early-stage start-ups in US.” Their history is far shorting with just 6 investments beginning in 2023. Their $13 million in GlobalComix is in range with previous investment which range from $3.8 million to a high of $18 million. Their focus is all over with their earliest in Kite AI but from there expanding into IT consulting and healthcare.
While Point72 Ventures has history with GlobalComix, the addition of SBI is interesting as a recent newcomer.
Henrik Rydberg, the new CEO
In the announcement, Rydberg is named the new CEO with co-founder Christopher Carter remaining with the company leading innovation and technology development.
Rydberg has served on the board since January 2025 coming from a the world of startups such as Date Like Goblins, a spin on the dating app, as well as venture investment like Mach49. But, he does have experience in “user experience” as part of Shapeways that can help GlobalComix. A platform whose two top priorities are content and the user experience to consume it and post it, that experience and background could be handy.
Conclusion
GlobalComix has been invested in AI for quite some time now, and at least one major funder, Point72 Ventures, isn’t new. This announcement is an interesting infusion into the company that shows signs of a focus on growth and its investors see potential for it. There’s nothing really new in the vision or goal, they’ve just doubled/tripled down on it. But, with that investment comes a reminder that they are invested in and embrace AI, a technology which has numerous detractors within the comic industry and seen rejection by consumers. It’s easy to see this investment turn sour with such a high profile clear lean into AI.
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Source: Graphic Policy
