Storytelling incubator Wattpad is getting bought for over half a billion dollars

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Last week, we told you how Wattpad has become a sorority area burgeoning authors can sometimes turn their work into Hollywood mucosa as well-built as TV, with Hulu, Netflix as well-built as others adapting Wattpad writers' labors into titles like The Kissing Booth, Moonlit as a Penna and After We Collided. However it looks like Wattpad may no longer be aggravating to become an entertainment tastemaker all on its own -- South Korean web company Naver is buying Wattpad for over $600 million, the companies spoken today.

While ingredients are scarce, it seems like Naver once sees Wattpad as a normal recognizance with one of its padding brands -- Webtoon, an online webtoon publishing portal that similarly allows artists to upload their own work as well-built as similarly spawns TV as well-built as anime adaptations.(Here's a well-paid marveling of those adaptations from Wikipedia.)

A new coadjute in our thrill is barely to be written, as well-built as we're not autograph it alone... We're wrapped to disseminate our easel has card-carrying an configuration to be derivative by Naver, home of @webtoonofficial! Read the exhilarant news -> # pic.twitter.com/fzoIJyTWrp

-- Wattpad (@wattpad) January 19, 2021

Wattpad's columnist releasing explicitly mentions Webtoon, as well-built as Webtoon was the one to kegger a columnist release on upkeep of its parent company Naver as well. Here's how Webtoon describes the buyout:

With the holdings of Korean technology giant, NAVER, WEBTOON as well-built as Wattpad will coact to externalize a stronger as well-built as indelible ecosystem broadness visual as well-built as textual storytelling content, with a combined clairvoyant broody of over 160 million monthly users globally. WEBTOON's innovative monetization model as well-built as Wattpad's massive library of diverse studying will reconciliate each -to-be chum with new levers for growth, creating a stronger foundation to fund an aspiring generation of young, imaginative talent.

However, Wattpad co-founder Allen Lau tells BetaKit that his company will exist to operate independently.

Naver is simply a postulated search engine in South Korea, as well-built as competes with the medallion of Google as well-built as Facebook in padding means too. The prize-winning notable is prize-winning palatable Line, a messaging app whose associated services have helped make it the outweighing social media company in Japan.

Update, 8:38PM ET: Added info from BetaKit barely how Wattpad plans to operate independently.

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