What The Grim Entertainment does

The Grim Entertainment (더그림엔터테인먼트), operating commercially as PTJCOMICS, is a privately held Korean webtoon studio headquartered in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Founded in 2021 and co-led by representatives Park Tae-jun (박태준) and An Hyung-su (안형수), the company develops, produces, and publishes original Korean webcomics. Its portfolio spans 20+ ongoing and 30+ completed series across action, thriller, fantasy, romance, sports, and supernatural genres, anchored by the globally distributed title Lookism (외모지상주의) and Crime City 0 (범도시0), the official prequel to the Crime City film franchise. The company occupies serialization slots across all seven weekday slots on Naver Webtoon, the dominant Korean webtoon distribution platform.

The studio's underlying technology is digital comic content production for web-first serialized distribution; the company does not operate a proprietary consumer platform and has no disclosed patents or AI/ML capabilities. Distribution is concentrated on Naver Webtoon, supplemented by dedicated social media channels (YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok @ptjcomics) for audience engagement and an open creator submission pipeline ([email protected]) for talent inflow. Brand extensions include a PTJCOMICS-branded direct-to-consumer merchandise storefront and a dedicated IP licensing/PR channel ([email protected]) supporting cross-media adaptations.

The business operates a multi-stream revenue model: (1) webtoon serialization revenue via Naver Webtoon's subscription and microtransaction monetization, (2) IP licensing for cross-media adaptations (film, gaming, etc.), and (3) branded merchandise sold through its own e-commerce storefront. The studio has raised approximately $25.9M cumulatively across two institutional rounds (Jan 2023 ~$10.94M; Dec 2024 ~$14.97M) from investors including Atinum Partners, Korea Investment Partners, Naver Webtoon, Innopolis Partners, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, KC Investment Partners, S2L Partners, and Korea Development Bank / Industrial Bank of Korea.

Name

The Grim Entertainment

Legal name

(주) The Grimm Entertainment

Website

https://ptjcomics.kr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Grim Entertainment (PTJCOMICS) is a Seoul-based Korean webtoon studio that develops, publishes, and licenses original serialized webcomics — most notably Lookism and Crime City 0 — primarily via Naver Webtoon, with additional revenue from IP licensing and direct-to-consumer merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Seoul

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Webtoon Serialization Revenue: The company publishes webcomics on Naver Webtoon across various day-of-week slots (Friday, Saturday, Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday). Revenue is generated through the Naver Webtoon platform's monetization model, which includes reader subscriptions and microtransactions.
2. IP Licensing and Business Partnerships: The company licenses its webcomic IPs for adaptations and business partnerships. Business and PR inquiries are directed to [email protected] and webtoon IP inquiries are handled separately, indicating active IP licensing operations.
3. Merchandise (Goods): The company operates a goods (굿즈) section on its website, indicating plans to monetize its IP portfolio through branded merchandise.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Grim Entertainment (operating as PTJCOMICS) creates and publishes original Korean webtoon intellectual property, serializing approximately 20+ ongoing and 30+ completed titles across multiple day-of-week slots on the Naver Webtoon platform. The company also licenses its IP for cross-media adaptations and sells branded merchandise tied to its webcomic characters.

Product overview

The Grimm Entertainment (더그림엔터테인먼트) operates PTJCOMICS, a webcomic intellectual property and entertainment company. The company produces and distributes original Korean webtoons published primarily on the Naver Webtoon platform across genres including action, thriller, fantasy, and comedy. Key ongoing series include 외모지상주의 (Naver Friday), 백XX (Naver Wednesday), 양치기 마법사 (Naver Monday), and 범죄도시0 (official prequel to the film Crime City series). The portfolio spans both ongoing serialized works and completed titles. The company also maintains a merchandise line and operates an open submission system (투고) for recruiting new artists.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lookism (외모지상주의) A flagship serialized Korean webtoon published on the Naver Webtoon Friday slot, available to digital comic readers on the platform.
• Crime City 0 (범죄도시0) A serialized Korean webtoon serving as an official prequel to the Crime City film series, published on Naver Webtoon and tied to a major film franchise IP.
• Serialized webtoon portfolio (PTJCOMICS titles) The company's broader catalog of approximately 20+ ongoing and 30+ completed serialized webtoons distributed across all major Naver Webtoon day-of-week slots, spanning action, thriller, fantasy, romance, sports, and supernatural genres.
• Webcomic IP licensing and business partnerships Licensing of the company's webcomic IPs to enterprises such as film studios and game developers for cross-media adaptation, with inquiries handled directly through [email protected] and dedicated IP business channels.
• PTJCOMICS branded merchandise (굿즈) Branded merchandise tied to the company's webcomic IP portfolio, sold through the company's own e-commerce storefront at ptjcomics.kr.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Tappytoon: Global English-language webtoon platform that translates and distributes Korean webtoon IP internationally, including Lookism. Comparable as a webtoon IP distribution and monetization platform, and a key channel for Korean studios' overseas reach.
• Haksan Culture Company: Korean webtoon publisher producing long-running serialized titles on Naver Webtoon and Daum, with cross-media adaptation track record (including 'Solo Leveling'). Comparable as a multi-title Korean webtoon studio with established global IP hits.
• Lezhin Comics: Korean webtoon platform (LICO) that produces and distributes original serialized content, including many premium/webtoon-exclusive titles. Comparable as a creator-driven webtoon publisher with both platform and IP capabilities.
• Tapas Media: US-based digital comic platform and publisher (acquired by Kakao Entertainment) producing and distributing original webcomic/webtoon IP for English-language audiences. Comparable as a webtoon IP publisher with platform relationships and direct reader monetization.
• YLAB: Korean webtoon production studio producing original serialized IP across multiple platforms including Naver Webtoon. Directly comparable business model: creator-driven original webtoon IP creation with multi-title portfolios targeting cross-media adaptation.
• Contents Lab Blue: Korean webtoon studio producing popular Naver Webtoon titles and developing IP for film and drama adaptations. Comparable in scale, IP pipeline structure, and reliance on Naver Webtoon distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Kakao Entertainment: Major Korean digital content platform (Kakao Page, Piccoma) that produces and aggregates webtoon IP alongside music, video, and live content. Comparable as a vertically integrated webtoon IP publisher with cross-media adaptation capabilities and direct access to readers via owned platforms.
• WEBTOON Entertainment: The global arm of Naver Webtoon (the same platform that distributes The Grim Entertainment's titles), operating the largest digital comic platform worldwide and producing/curating original webtoon IP. Directly comparable in webtoon IP creation and distribution model, but operates at vastly greater scale and also controls the platform layer.
• Crunchyroll Manga: Sony-owned global anime and manga platform with a digital comics vertical distributing serialized content internationally. Comparable as a digital comic IP publisher/distributor in the global manga-to-webtoon ecosystem, though broader in scope.

Regional players

• Piccoma: Japan-focused webtoon/webcomic platform operated by Kakao Entertainment, the largest webtoon platform in Japan by revenue. Comparable in business model (platform-driven serialized webtoon monetization) but with a Japanese rather than Korean primary audience.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ptjcomics
• Instagraminstagram.com/ptjcomics_official/?hl=ko
• TikToktiktok.com/@ptjcomics
• Facebookfacebook.com/ptjcomics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Grim Entertainment