[AI Revolution](59) What a Samsung Electronics Employee Who 'Drew Webtoons' Did After Quitting

Starting with C-Lab... Founded Toonsquare in 2019
Enables easy webtoon creation using AI technology
Plans to enter webtoon platforms in North American and Japanese markets

"It is true that there is some resistance to receiving help from artificial intelligence (AI) technology in webtoon production. However, I believe it is difficult to go against this massive trend. We must seize the opportunity by boarding the tectonic shift triggered by AI."

[AI Revolution](59) What a Samsung Electronics Employee Who 'Drew Webtoons' Did After Quitting

Lee Ho-young, CEO of Toonsquare, who joined Samsung Electronics as a UX designer in 2010, says he became aware of AI while working on AI-related tasks such as Bixby. Later, using the in-house venture (C-Lab) system, he made a resolution to "solve the problems of webtoon artists." This was because he had personally created webtoons and understood the difficulties faced by webtoon artists better than anyone else. Thus, Toonsquare was established as a separate corporation in 2019 and gained recognition when it received Series A investment last year. His nearly 10 years at Samsung, gaining diverse experience in marketing, customer management, overseas expansion, and intellectual property (IP) issues such as patents and copyrights, proved helpful.

Toonsquare has been pushing its business with the goal of reducing the time required to produce a webtoon from 50 hours per week to 5 hours. Toonsquare's services are broadly divided into three categories: 'Tooning Editor,' launched two years ago; 'Tooning Magic AI,' introduced last June; and the webtoon platform 'Tooning World,' which will enter the North American market within the year. Tooning Editor is a tool that allows users to easily create webtoon scenes with just a few clicks. It offers characters, backgrounds, speech bubbles, and props in various art styles. It is useful not only for companies but also for government agencies or local governments to create card news or for schools to produce educational content. CEO Lee said, "Tooning Editor can be used to hold webtoon contests on environmental protection or design posters to improve awareness of people with disabilities," adding, "I heard that children who were not interested in art classes also find it engaging and participate." Toonsquare's B2B partners number around 200.

Lee Ho-young, CEO of ToonSquare

Tooning Magic AI enables more sophisticated image creation using generative AI technology. By clicking on desired characters, expressions, poses, hairstyles, and more, delicate images comparable to those seen on paid webtoon platforms are produced. Toonsquare even created and sold a webtoon based on Greek mythology using Tooning Magic AI. Additionally, to prevent copyright issues, Toonsquare employs about 20 webtoon artists. Characters created by Toonsquare's webtoon artists combined with AI allow ordinary users to create webtoons with just a few clicks if they have their own story. Currently, Tooning Editor and Tooning Magic AI are available for free trial. The monthly user count is about 150,000, with daily visitors ranging from 5,000 to 10,000.

Toonsquare plans to launch Tooning World in the North American and Japanese markets within the year. Tooning World can be seen as a webtoon platform similar to Naver Webtoon and KakaoPage. However, it differs in that webtoons created freely using AI technology are uploaded. Considering the domestic atmosphere where there is some resistance to AI entering the webtoon market, the launch in the Korean market is planned for a later date.

Toonsquare's motto is "Stories change the world." CEO Lee said, "I want to contribute to humanity by creating good content that children enjoy and that stimulates their imagination." For this reason, they avoid posting provocative or sensational webtoons. The ultimate goal is the IP business. CEO Lee stated, "I hope that anyone can become a creator who makes webtoons with their own content using Toonsquare's tools and technology," adding, "The goal is to diversify revenue through IP business by creating secondary works through IP transactions and further developing them."