Tapas (website)

Tapas
Icon of the Tapas app
Type of site
Webcomic platform
Available inEnglish
OwnerTapas Media, a Kakao Entertainment company[1]
Created by
  • Chang Kim
  • Young-Jun Jang
[2][3]
URLtapas.io
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Launched2012
Current statusActive

Tapas, formerly known as Tapastic and originally known as Comic Panda,[nb 1] is a South Korean webtoon and prose publishing website and app owned by Tapas Media, a Kakao Entertainment company. It was created in 2012 by entrepreneurs Young-Jun Jang and Chang Kim,[2][3] who is currently Tapas Media's CEO.[5][6]

As of February 2021 the website reports that it hosts English-language works by over 61,000 creators. Most of the works on Tapas are in romance and fantasy genres. Tapas reports that around 63% of creators on its service are women and that the majority of its users are women aged 18–24. Around 80% of its works are comics, while the rest are prose.

The site works on a freemium business model; many series have the first few episodes available for free but further episodes must be purchased. Tapas reported that in 2020, users in total typically spent US$50,000–$70,000 each day on the service, and over that year Tapas paid US$14 million to creators.

  1. ^ Lee, Joyce (May 11, 2021). "S.Korea's Kakao to buy two U.S. Storytelling apps for $950 MLN". Reuters.
  2. ^ a b "The Impact of Digital Technologies on Education Businesses". Stanford University. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "YJ (Young-Jun) Jang, Founder & CEO at Riiid". The Org. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  4. ^ Xerexes, Xaviar (January 28, 2007). "Biggie Panda: Old Skool Webcomics". Comix Talk.
  5. ^ Lee, Jun-Youb (April 3, 2015). "Startup Battles Naver in English Webtoons". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 11, 2015.
  6. ^ Salkowitz, Rob (January 20, 2021). "Tapas Sees Big Gains for Digital Comics". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved March 5, 2021.


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