Baobab Studios Lands Naver Ventures Investment, Unveils Fantasy Series 'Shine'
Baobab Studios, a ten-time Emmy-winning animation studio, has secured a seven-figure strategic investment from Naver Ventures, the US-based venture arm of South Korean internet giant Naver Corporation. The deal values Baobab above its previous funding round, according to Variety.
The first project under the new slate is "Shine" (working title), an original fantasy adventure co-created by Erick Oh and Madeleine Rosca. The story follows a half-human girl who must bridge the divide between the human and spirit worlds to save a futuristic Korea.
Naver Corporation is the parent of Webtoon Entertainment Inc., the digital comics platform where 75% of monthly active readers are Gen Z. That connection is no accident. Baobab is developing "Shine" alongside Webtoon as a digital webcomic series, with a print graphic novel from First Second Books — an imprint of Macmillan Publishers — planned to pair with the digital release. It is Baobab's second graphic novel collaboration with First Second, following "Intercats." Baobab retains film, television, streaming and gaming rights to the property.
The creative team brings serious credentials. Oh previously directed Baobab's "Namoo," which won an Annie Award, earned an Emmy nomination, and was shortlisted for an Oscar. His short film "Opera" received a 2021 Academy Award nomination. Rosca created, wrote and illustrated the Webtoon series "Rise From Ashes," which drew more than 52 million readers across 140 episodes. She was also the first non-Japanese winner of Japan's International Manga Award, presented by the Foreign Minister of Japan.
Naver Ventures was established to invest in later-stage companies, primarily in the United States, with a focus on AI, robotics, and fintech startups (Naver Ventures). Its first confirmed investment was in TwelveLabs, a video AI startup, announced in June 2025 (PR Newswire). The Baobab deal extends that portfolio into media and entertainment content.
Maureen Fan is the CEO of Baobab Studios. Under her leadership, the studio has built a reputation for transmedia storytelling — meaning it designs properties to live across comics, film, television, streaming and gaming from the start, rather than adapting them after the fact.
For audiences, "Shine" represents a property arriving on multiple platforms at once: a webcomic on Webtoon, a printed graphic novel on shelves, and potential downstream adaptations across film, TV and gaming, all controlled by the studio that created it.
