MediBang

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.

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

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

• Digital painting software
• Manga creation tools
• Illustration community
• Creative subscription platform
• Art social network

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core 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.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GMO Internet GroupminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 June 2021Capital 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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/MediBangPaint_e
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/MediBangOfficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/medibangofficial
• Instagraminstagram.com/medibangofficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/medibang

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors5 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 MediBang