Libalent
Libalent is a Tokyo-based digital marketing company operating four divisions: entertainment-focused advertising using comedian talent, YouTube channel management (~3,500 channels), creator/talent representation, and TOON STUDIO vertical scroll manga production for global distribution through the S&L Publishing joint label with NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Libalent does
Libalent (株式会社Libalent) is a Tokyo-based digital marketing and content company founded on June 12, 2015 by Aizawa Takahiro, who previously served as President of Bellrock Media (a Yoshimoto Kogyo and Intel joint venture). The company operates four business divisions: (1) Creator Management, providing talent representation for comedians and entertainers including New York Jack and ひょっこりはん; (2) Interactive Promotion, offering entertainment-focused advertising services such as X (Twitter) Amplify Sponsorship, TikTok entertainment packages, influencer marketing, and flipbook animation ads featuring comedian talent; (3) Digital Development, providing YouTube channel management for approximately 3,500 channels, the FANY Story reading platform (co-developed with FANY/Yoshimoto), the Yoshimoto OmO community platform, and the FANY Crowdfunding service; and (4) TOON STUDIO, producing original vertical scroll manga (webtoon) content and adapting existing Japanese works for global distribution across platforms including LINE Manga, Piccoma, comico, MangaPlaza, Global Comix, Coolmic, and Amazon Kindle.
Libalent firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Libalent
- Legal name
- 株式会社Libalent
- Website
- https://libalent.com/
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Libalent is a Tokyo-based digital marketing company operating four divisions: entertainment-focused advertising using comedian talent, YouTube channel management (~3,500 channels), creator/talent representation, and TOON STUDIO vertical scroll manga production for global distribution through the S&L Publishing joint label with NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Libalent industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Marketing Services
- NAICS
- Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Media Buying Agencies (54183)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Content & Creative Studio for Creators (Concepting/Production) (MPAAAHAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Entertainment Booking & Speaker/Talent Management (HSACAAAI), Full-Service Artist Management (MPAIAGAA)
Keywords
Where Libalent is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Libalent business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Advertising Services: Entertainment advertising using comedians and talents. Services include X Amplify Sponsorship, influencer marketing, TikTok packages, YouTuber collaborations, and self-produced video advertising. Full-service from planning to production and ad operations for enterprise clients.
- Creator Business (YouTube Channel Management): YouTube secretariat operations managing approximately 3,500 channels. Services include channel setup, operations support, revenue calculation, copyright processing, and strategic consulting for talent and creator digital monetization.
- Webtoon/Manga Publishing: Original vertical scroll manga production and adaptation of existing Japanese works. Revenue from comic platform sales, IP licensing, and global distribution partnerships.
- Talent Management: Talent management services for comedians, announcers, and magicians. Handles appearances, scheduling, event support, and career development for managed talent.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | MangaPlaza Premium Membership - USD 6.99/month with 1-week free trial |
| Hybrid | Annual | WEB CM Production Plan - annual cumulative orders 40 million JPY minimum |
| Hybrid | Annual | YouTube Collaboration Plan - annual cumulative orders 20 million JPY minimum |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Flipbook Animation Ads - Standard Plan from 1 million JPY (production only) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels8 records
Marketing channels6 records
Libalent product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Libalent is a Japanese digital marketing company that provides four core services: (1) Creator Management — talent representation for comedians and entertainers; (2) Interactive Promotion — entertainment-focused digital advertising such as X Amplify Sponsorship and TikTok packages using comedian talent; (3) Digital Development — YouTube channel management operations for 3,500+ channels and community platforms; and (4) TOON STUDIO — original vertical scroll manga (webtoon) production and global distribution, including the S&L Publishing joint publishing label with NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live.
Product overview
Libalent operates as a digital marketing company with four main business divisions: (1) Creator Management for talent representation of entertainers and content creators, (2) Interactive Promotion offering entertainment-focused video advertising solutions including X Amplify Sponsorship, TikTok packages, and influencer marketing, (3) Digital Development providing YouTube channel management services (managing 3,500+ channels), community platforms, and crowdfunding, and (4) TOON STUDIO producing original vertical scroll manga (webtoon) content for global distribution. The company also runs S&L Publishing joint venture with NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live for Japanese manga international distribution, and co-developed the FANY Story platform with Yoshimoto. Core products include X Amplify Sponsorship advertising packages featuring comedian talent, original manga titles like '幼馴染の顔が良い', '蠱毒の殺人', 'さなとりょう', and vertical scroll adaptations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- comicle: A manga production brand under Libalent inc. used for vertical scroll manga (縦スクロール漫画) production and publishing, including works such as 蠱毒の殺人, Dr.クインチ remake, さなとりょう, 幼馴染の顔が良い, and others.
- S&L Publishing
- TOON STUDIO
Products and services
- X Amplify Sponsorship Entertainment-focused video advertising package on X featuring comedian talent, bundling creative production and media fees to produce branded content resembling variety shows rather than traditional ads.
- Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing services leveraging comedian talent and creator fan communities for brand promotion campaigns on social platforms.
- TikTok Entertainment Package Joint package menu with TikTok (Bytedance) featuring comedian and influencer talent in entertainment-style video advertisements for enterprise advertisers.
- Creator Management Talent management services for entertainers, comedians, and content creators, supporting their career development across digital and traditional media platforms.
- TOON STUDIO Vertical Scroll Manga Production Original vertical scroll manga (webtoon) production service for domestic and international distribution, including story development, character design, coloring, and platform deployment.
- S&L Publishing Joint Publishing Label Joint publishing label with NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live for localizing and distributing Japanese manga titles to English-speaking markets and globally, including rights acquisition, translation, and distribution management.
- FANY Story Platform Reading and vertical manga website developed jointly with FANY (Yoshimoto), offering manga works and novelist-written content for FANY ID premium members.
- YouTube Channel Management (YouTube Secretariat) YouTube channel management services covering channel launch through operations, supporting talent and creator digital expansion, including revenue calculation and copyright processing for 3,500+ managed channels.
- FANY Crowdfunding Crowdfunding platform for creator projects and content development initiatives operated jointly with FANY (Yoshimoto).
- Yoshimoto OmO YouTube channel management and community operations platform for Yoshimoto entertainers, providing fan engagement and content distribution.
- Parampara (Flipbook) Animation Ads Story-driven flipbook-style animation advertisements created in partnership with Atom Story, customizable in art style and color patterns with optional comedian character insertions.
- SmartNews Ad Package Advertising package developed in partnership with SmartNews, combining Top News Video Ads with vertical video content production featuring comedian talent.
Quantifiable outcome
- Entertainer-based ads generate higher purchase intent (75.4% prefer entertainer ads over influencer ads)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Libalent
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Libalent technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Libalent partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- NTT SolmarecoreThree-party joint project with NTT Solmare operating MangaPlaza for North American romance fantasy manga distribution. Targeting approximately 100 volumes of Japanese romance fantasy manga translated to English for exclusive delivery on MangaPlaza.
- NTT docomo Studio & LivecoreJoint publishing label S&L Publishing established to distribute Japanese manga overseas. Partnership involves rights acquisition, translation, localization, and global platform distribution. Collaborative IP development including original manga production.
- 太田出版supportingFirst publishing partner for vertical scroll manga adaptation research and verification. Also co-publishing partner for さなとりょう historical manga adaptation.
- gaaboosupportingBusiness partnership for advertising operations. Focuses on strategic advertising planning, AI/machine learning technology integration, advanced advertising methodologies, and data analysis for KPI visualization.
- FANY (吉本興業)coreJoint development of reading/manga website 'FANY Story'. Libalent provides system development and vertical scroll manga production based on Yoshimoto talent IP. Platform provides free manga and reading content for FANY ID premium members.
- Atom Story (アトムストーリー)supportingFlipbook animation advertising service partnership. Collaboration for story-based flipbook video ad production and distribution.
- Amazon FliptoonsupportingFirst delivery platform for さなとりょう vertical scroll manga adaptation before nationwide bookstore distribution.
- PiccomasupportingExclusive first delivery platform for 蠱毒の殺人 vertical scroll manga adaptation. Multi-language (English, Thai) distribution.
- GakkensupportingPublisher partner for vertical scroll manga adaptation of existing content. Partnership for global expansion of Japanese manga content.
- Kawade Shobo Shinsha (河出書房新社)supportingPublisher partner for vertical scroll manga adaptation of existing content with global distribution focus.
- Teranovel (テラーノベル)supportingPartner for light novel to manga adaptation. 蠱毒の殺人 based on Teller Novel popular work; 760万+ downloads app platform partnership.
- Futabasha (双葉社)supportingPublisher partner for vertical scroll manga adaptation of manga, literary, and other content for global manga fan audience.
- D2C RsupportingJoint webinar co-hosting on Z-generation SNS marketing strategies. Three-party webinar with X Corp on effective social media approaches.
- X Corp. (Twitter)supportingX Amplify Sponsorship certified agency partnership. Certified since 2021 for creative production and advertising operations.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves11 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Libalent competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- UUUM: Japan's largest YouTube multi-channel network (MCN), directly comparable to Libalent's YouTube Secretariat operation (3,500+ channels managed). UUUM runs the same creator-monetization playbook—channel setup, operations support, revenue calculation, copyright handling—and competes for the same creator/talent roster in Japan.
- Kakao Piccoma: Operates the Piccoma webtoon manga platform—one of Libalent's key distribution partners and a direct competitor in the Japanese webtoon/vertical-scroll manga market, including original IP development. Piccoma competes for the same reader attention and creator relationships that Libalent's TOON STUDIO targets.
- NHN Japan (comico): NHN Japan's comico platform hosts Libalent's TOON STUDIO originals (e.g., exclusive first delivery of 騙サレ姉妹の復讐戦線 and BL title 幼馴染の顔が良い) while also operating its own webtoon production and competing with Libalent for creators and platform share in the same Japanese market.
- VAZ: Tokyo-based creator and talent management agency (founded by former Yoshimoto-affiliated executives) that manages comedians, entertainers, and digital creators. Directly comparable to Libalent's Creator Management division in scope and target talent segment.
Broad incumbents
- CyberAgent: Major Japanese digital advertising and internet media company (operator of ABEMA, parent of Geelee YouTuber agency). Overlaps with Libalent across digital marketing services, creator-economy operations, and video advertising—though at significantly larger scale and broader portfolio.
- Dentsu: Japan's largest advertising agency group and Libalent's strategic capital partner since 2020. Dentsu's digital marketing operations (Dentsu Digital) overlap directly with Libalent's Interactive Promotion business, bringing both close-collaboration and competitive dynamics with the larger incumbent.
- Webtoon Entertainment: Naver-owned global webtoon leader (publicly listed in 2024). Comparable to Libalent's TOON STUDIO business in original and adapted webtoon IP distribution globally, but at dramatically larger scale, deeper localization, and longer-running creator-network advantages.
- Hakuhodo: Japan's second-largest advertising agency network. Comparable to Libalent in serving enterprise advertisers with digital creative, influencer/talent-driven content, and full-funnel campaign execution—operates at much larger scale with broader portfolio.
- LY Corporation (LINE Manga): LY Corporation operates LINE Manga, a key webtoon distribution platform for Libalent's TOON STUDIO titles. Operates at the same intersection of digital content distribution and creator monetization in Japan, but as a significantly larger portal-and-messaging conglomerate.
- Septeni Holdings (Digital Holdings): Japanese digital advertising holding company (now rebranded Digital Holdings) with social-media and influencer-marketing subsidiaries. Comparable to Libalent's Interactive Promotion and creator-economy services targeting enterprise advertisers, though with broader media-buying capabilities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat7 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Libalent social profiles
Digital presenceLibalent compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Libalent financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Libalent leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Libalent funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Libalent 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 Libalent
What does Libalent do?
Libalent is a Japanese digital marketing company that provides four core services: (1) Creator Management — talent representation for comedians and entertainers; (2) Interactive Promotion — entertainment-focused digital advertising such as X Amplify Sponsorship and TikTok packages using comedian talent; (3) Digital Development — YouTube channel management operations for 3,500+ channels and community platforms; and (4) TOON STUDIO — original vertical scroll manga (webtoon) production and global distribution, including the S&L Publishing joint publishing label with NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live.
Is Libalent a public or private company?
Libalent is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Libalent founded?
Libalent was founded in 2015. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Libalent based?
Libalent is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does Libalent make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Advertising Services are the primary driver. The others are creator Business (YouTube Channel Management), webtoon/Manga Publishing and talent Management.
Who are Libalent's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are UUUM, Kakao Piccoma, NHN Japan (comico) and VAZ. Broad incumbents are CyberAgent, Dentsu, Webtoon Entertainment, Hakuhodo, LY Corporation (LINE Manga) and Septeni Holdings (Digital Holdings).
Does Libalent have an API?
No public API is recorded for Libalent.
What industry is Libalent in?
Libalent's product category is Digital Marketing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAHAD, Content & Creative Studio for Creators (Concepting/Production), with a secondary code of HSACAAAI, Entertainment Booking & Speaker/Talent Management. Its NAICS code is 7114 and its SIC code is 7330.