India's massive entertainment market has long been a hotspot for businesses, but a crucial aspect often overlooked is the country's love for content in local languages. According to a recent survey by the Internet and Mobile Association of India, over 870 million Indians sought out videos, music, and other content in Indian languages in 2024, with 57% preferring content in local languages. This trend has not gone unnoticed by Toonsutra, a platform for webtoons in India, which is capitalizing on the rise in internet usage and the demand for localized content.

Toonsutra's approach is unique in that it licenses various comics from around the world, arranges them into episodes, and translates them into Indian languages. The platform currently offers comics in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu via its Android and iOS apps. Co-founder and CEO Vishal Anand explained that the company identified a gap in the market, where India lacked access to top webtoon titles in a snackable format and different languages, and saw a significant opportunity to grow comics culture in India and create fandoms around it.

The platform's monetization strategy involves in-app purchases, where a few episodes in each title are free, and users can unlock the rest by spending "coins" that can be either purchased outright or earned by reading more comics. Toonsutra is also experimenting with subscription plans and per-episode purchases. Anand reported that the platform has garnered over half a million monthly active users, demonstrating decent traction for a startup that has been around for less than two years.

Toonsutra's growth has attracted significant investor interest, with the company raising $5.9 million across multiple rounds from notable investors such as Sony Innovation Fund, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Google, and Maiora Capital, as well as industry veterans like Funimation founder Gen Fukunaga, Crunchyroll co-founder Kun Gao, Lightspeed partner Jeremy Liew, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, and Rotten Tomatoes co-founder Patrick Lee. Google's investment is particularly noteworthy, given the tech giant's history of backing startups in India targeting regional content, including Social network ShareChat, lock screen app Glance, Verse Innovation, and audio platform Kuku FM.

Filmon Zerai, co-CEO of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, which runs Nature, attributed the company's investment in Toonsutra to its desire to diversify its regional and format strategy. "An investment in Toonsutra gives us visibility in the Indian market, which is a dynamic and growing content market. Plus, the startup is an innovative venture with new monetization techniques to succeed in the market," Zerai said.

Toonsutra faces competition from Matrix Partners India-backed Dashtoons, which uses an AI creation suite to generate content, as well as PocketFM, which is venturing into creating webtoons, and Krafton-backed Pratilipi, which has a platform for comics in Indian languages. However, Anand emphasized that Toonsutra is not attempting to create a platform for writers to adapt their stories to comics. Instead, the company is focused on curation and using AI to adapt titles to different languages, aiming to be a "Netflix rather than YouTube" by offering exclusive, high-quality titles on its platform.

The partnership with Google also provides Toonsutra with access to the search giant's models, which will be used to translate and adapt comics to Indian languages. Industry analysts predict healthy growth for anime and webtoons in India, with anime streaming service Crunchyroll investing heavily in the market, offering subscription plans tailored to Indian price levels and even dubbing anime in local languages.

As Toonsutra continues to grow and expand its offerings, it will be interesting to see how the platform navigates the competitive landscape and capitalizes on India's booming demand for localized webtoons. With its unique approach and significant investor backing, Toonsutra is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the Indian entertainment market.