MediBang
MediBang Inc. builds free digital painting and manga creation software (MediBang Paint) and the ART street social network, serving individual illustrators, manga creators, and creative teams globally via a freemium model with a Premium subscription layer.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What MediBang does
MediBang Inc. is a Tokyo-based digital art platform company founded in June 2014 that builds tools and a social network for illustration and manga creators. Its product stack is anchored by MediBang Paint, a free digital painting and manga creation application available on Windows, Mac, Android, iPad, and iPhone, supporting brush tools, layer management, multi-format export (PNG, JPEG, MDP, PSD, TIFF, HEIF, JP2, GIF, BMP, WEBP), and cloud synchronization. Around this creation tool the company operates ART street, a social networking platform where creators post illustrations and manga, participate in a seven-tier ranking system, enter themed contests (e.g., Kyoto International Creators Award, Tottori Manga Kingdom, Danganronpa Creative Contest), and engage with creator interviews. Supporting products include MediBang Pro, JUMP PAINT (co-developed with Shueisha), MangaName (character naming utility), MediBang Colors (palette management), MediBang Neppuri, and CYCOMICS (a free English-language manga reading platform).
The business model combines a freemium consumer subscription (MediBang Premium, launched September 2021), priced from 300 JPY/month on web to 7,980 JPY/year on Google Play, with a digital marketplace for brushes and materials and contest prize economics. Premium unlocks 600+ exclusive brushes and materials, ad-free usage, unlimited cloud storage tiers (20GB/100GB/300GB), unlimited version recall, and unlimited team participation; the free tier caps cloud storage at 3GB, team participation at 3 teams, and version recall at 3 generations. Customer segments are consumer-side: individual digital artists and illustrators, manga and comic creators, creative teams, and aspiring professional manga artists targeting debut via contests. Distribution runs through the company website, Apple App Store, Google Play, and partner platforms, with localization in Japanese, English, Spanish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese supporting a multi-region user base that has accumulated 100M+ downloads.
Strategically, the company has pursued a product-led and community-led growth model, supplemented by capital and business partnerships — notably with Shueisha (2019 strategic investment, JUMP PAINT collaboration) and GMO Internet Group (June 2021 partnership on the Adam byGMO NFT marketplace). Total disclosed equity funding across six rounds since 2014 is approximately $6.2M, led by B Dash Ventures with participation from Shueisha, Obunsha Ventures, VentureOut, and GMO Internet Group. Headcount is reported at 101-250 employees with headquarters at Shibuya Place, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, under president and CEO Takashima Hideyuki. The company remains privately held with no public listing and does not disclose revenue, paying user counts, or valuation.
MediBang firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- MediBang
- Legal name
- 株式会社MediBang
- Website
- https://medibang.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- MediBang Inc. builds free digital painting and manga creation software (MediBang Paint) and the ART street social network, serving individual illustrators, manga creators, and creative teams globally via a freemium model with a Premium subscription layer.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
MediBang industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Art and Manga Creation Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (513210)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Comics, Manga & Serialized Reading Platforms (BPAMAJAJ)
Keywords
Where MediBang is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
MediBang business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- MediBang Premium Subscription: Monthly and annual subscription service providing unlimited access to exclusive brushes and materials, full access to MediBang Paint features, ad-free experience, enhanced cloud storage, and unlimited team participation. Tiered pricing across web and mobile app stores.
- ART street Marketplace: Digital marketplace for brushes, textures, and other creative materials. While Premium provides unlimited access to most materials, individual premium items can also be purchased separately by non-subscribers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | MediBang Premium Monthly (Web) |
| Subscription | Monthly | MediBang Premium Monthly (App Store) |
| Subscription | Monthly | MediBang Premium Monthly (Google Play) |
| Subscription | Annual | MediBang Premium Annual (Web) |
| Subscription | Annual | MediBang Premium Annual (App Store) |
| Subscription | Annual | MediBang Premium Annual (Google Play) |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Tier (Basic MediBang Paint) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
MediBang product offering
Product offeringCore offering
MediBang operates a two-sided creative ecosystem anchored by MediBang Paint, a free digital painting and manga creation application available across PC (Windows/Mac), Android, iPad, and iPhone, and ART street, a social networking site where creators post, share, and discover illustrations and manga. The company monetizes through a tiered premium subscription (MediBang Premium) that unlocks 600+ exclusive brushes and materials, expanded cloud storage, ad-free use, and unlimited team participation, plus individual marketplace purchases of premium creative assets.
Product overview
MediBang Inc. operates a platform-portfolio business centered on two core offerings: MediBang Paint (free digital painting and manga creation software available across PC, Android, iPad, and iPhone) and ART street (a social networking site for posting, sharing, and discovering illustrations and manga). Supporting the core products are several add-on modules and sub-brands: MediBang Pro (professional-tier version), JUMP PAINT (Shueisha-collaboration manga software), MangaName (character naming tool), MediBang Colors (color management), MediBang Neppuri (external companion service), MediBang Premium (subscription service unlocking 600+ brushes/materials, ad-free experience, unlimited cloud storage and team features), and CYCOMICS (free English-language Japanese manga reading platform). The MediBang Premium subscription ties together access to MediBang Paint and the ART street marketplace of brushes and materials.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ART street: Social networking site for posting illustrations and manga
- MediBang Paint
- MediBang Pro
- JUMP PAINT
- MediBang Premium
- CYCOMI
Products and services
- MediBang Paint Free digital painting and manga creation application available on PC (Windows/Mac), Android, iPad, and iPhone, supporting brushes, layer management, cloud sync, and export to multiple formats including PNG, JPEG, PSD, MDP, and TIFF. Targeted at individual digital artists, illustrators, and manga creators.
- ART street Social networking platform for posting, sharing, and discovering illustrations and manga. Users upload artwork, participate in creative contests, follow creators, engage in rankings, and access a marketplace of brushes, textures, and creative materials. Targeted at individual digital artists, illustrators, and manga creators worldwide.
- MediBang Premium Subscription service offering unlimited access to 600+ exclusive brushes, textures, and materials, ad-free experience across all platforms, unlimited team participation, unlimited version control, and additional cloud storage plans (20GB/100GB/300GB). Priced at 300 JPY/month (Web), 350 JPY/month (App Store), or 330 JPY/month (Google Play), with annual options. Targeted at active MediBang Paint users who want expanded creative resources and features.
- JUMP PAINT Manga creation software developed in collaboration with Shueisha, designed for aspiring manga artists to create and submit manga works. Targeted at manga creators seeking industry exposure through the JUMP brand association.
- CYCOMICS Free and official platform for reading Japanese manga in English, hosted on ART street. Targeted at English-speaking manga readers and serves as a content distribution channel for creators.
- MediBang Neppuri External companion service accessible at mbneppuri.com, associated with the MediBang ecosystem for creators. Targeted at MediBang Paint and ART street users seeking additional creative services.
Companies that use MediBang
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
MediBang technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
MediBang partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- GMO Internet GroupminorCapital and business partnership established in June 2021 between GMO Internet Group and MediBang. The partnership focuses on technical collaboration within the NFT marketplace 'Adam byGMO', aiming to build an environment where creators and artists can more easily produce and distribute their works. The strategic alignment combines MediBang's creator platform with GMO Internet Group's NFT marketplace infrastructure.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
MediBang competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Procreate (Savage Interactive): Procreate is the leading iPad-native digital illustration app with a strong creator-community following. It competes with MediBang Paint on iPad/iPhone for individual illustrators and hobbyists worldwide.
- Pixiv: Pixiv is the largest Japanese illustration and manga social network, with Pixiv Sketch as its drawing tool. It directly competes with MediBang's ART street for the same creator and viewer audience.
- Celsys (Clip Studio Paint): Celsys develops Clip Studio Paint, the dominant professional manga and illustration software with strong monetization (perpetual + subscription). It is the most direct competitor to MediBang Paint, especially for manga creators in Japan and globally.
- Ibis Paint (ibisMobile): Ibis Paint is a widely downloaded mobile drawing app with a freemium model and social features. Like MediBang Paint, it is a top-grossing illustration app on iOS/Android with heavy overlap in target users.
- Krita Foundation (Krita): Krita is an open-source digital painting application for illustrators and comic creators across PC platforms. It competes with the free PC tier of MediBang Paint as a no-cost alternative for hobbyist and indie creators.
Broad incumbents
- DeviantArt (Wix): DeviantArt is a long-established global art community and marketplace. While not a drawing tool, its social art platform role mirrors ART street for international, English-speaking creators.
- Adobe Fresco: Adobe Fresco is a multi-platform drawing and painting app backed by Adobe's Creative Cloud ecosystem. It overlaps with MediBang Paint on illustration/manga workflows while leveraging Adobe's enterprise distribution and licensing power.
Regional players
- Kakao Entertainment (Kakao Page / Piccoma): Kakao operates Piccoma and Kakao Page, dominant webtoon/manga platforms in Korea and Japan. They overlap with CYCOMICS and ART street at the digital comics distribution layer in the Korean market.
- BookWalker (Kadokawa): BookWalker is Kadokawa's digital manga storefront and operates a self-publishing ecosystem. It overlaps with CYCOMICS for manga reading and with JUMP PAINT-style publisher-led creator tooling in Japan.
- LINE Manga (LINE Corporation / LY Corporation): LINE Manga is a major Japanese-language digital manga platform. As a publisher-distribution competitor, it parallels MediBang's CYCOMICS and contest-to-debut pipeline, primarily in Japan.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
MediBang social profiles
Digital presenceMediBang financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
MediBang leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
MediBang funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
MediBang M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about MediBang
What does MediBang do?
MediBang operates a two-sided creative ecosystem anchored by MediBang Paint, a free digital painting and manga creation application available across PC (Windows/Mac), Android, iPad, and iPhone, and ART street, a social networking site where creators post, share, and discover illustrations and manga. The company monetizes through a tiered premium subscription (MediBang Premium) that unlocks 600+ exclusive brushes and materials, expanded cloud storage, ad-free use, and unlimited team participation, plus individual marketplace purchases of premium creative assets.
Is MediBang a public or private company?
MediBang is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was MediBang founded?
MediBang was founded in 2014. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is MediBang based?
MediBang is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does MediBang make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. MediBang Premium Subscription is the primary driver. The others are ART street Marketplace.
Who are MediBang's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Procreate (Savage Interactive), Pixiv, Celsys (Clip Studio Paint), Ibis Paint (ibisMobile) and Krita Foundation (Krita). Broad incumbents are DeviantArt (Wix) and Adobe Fresco. Regional players are Kakao Entertainment (Kakao Page / Piccoma), BookWalker (Kadokawa) and LINE Manga (LINE Corporation / LY Corporation).
Does MediBang have an API?
No public API is recorded for MediBang.
What industry is MediBang in?
MediBang's product category is Digital Art and Manga Creation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAJAJ, Digital Comics, Manga & Serialized Reading Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5132.