Graphic India raises $5 million from Liquid Comics and others

Bengaluru: Graphic India Pte Ltd, which creates comic characters and stories for digital and mobile platforms, has raised $5 million in a round led by Liquid Comics LLC with participation from other investors including Start Media LLC, 3One4 Capital, Julian Farrior, co-founder of Backflip Studios Inc., and Neeraj Bhargava, founder of Zodius Capital.

The start-up will use the funds to launch its animated characters in international markets as well as expand into TV/film distribution and virtual reality content.

The company currently makes digital comics and animation content in partnership with celebrities and animators including Stan Lee, Amitabh Bachchan, Grant Morrison, S.S. Rajamouli, and Arka Mediaworks.

It has developed fantasy characters and shows including Chakra: The Invincible, Astra Force, Baahubali: The Lost Legends, 18 Days: The Mahabharata, among others. These shows are streamed on portals like Prime Video and YouTube, and on TV channels like Disney and Viacom18’s Colors.

In addition, the company also has a large library of digital comics and short-form content featuring stories and characters such as Shadow Tiger, Avatarex, Reincarnation Man, Mighty Yeti, Devi, The Sadhu, Ramayan 3392AD and many more.

Graphic India was founded by Sharad Devarajan and Liquid Comics. It previously raised funds from CA Media, the Asian investment arm of The Chernin Group, and from Start Media LLC.

“Our mission at Graphic India is to create characters and stories that are uniquely Indian, but entertaining and inspiring to audiences around the world. India has the world’s largest youth population and its time it shared an equivalent portion of the annual multi-billion-dollar character entertainment industry,” said Devarajan, chief executive officer of Graphic India in a statement.

“As they (Graphic India) move into live action and virtual reality, Graphic will continue to lead India’s character entertainment industry with multi-platform superhero properties,” Rajesh Kamat, co-founder of Graphic India added.

Over the past few years, independent content creators like AIB, The Viral Fever, East India Company, and ScoopWhoop have attracted large audiences on social media and streaming platforms like YouTube and Facebook. The Viral Fever had raised $10 million from Tiger Global in February last year.