U17
Chinese original webcomic and animation platform.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor investor | €0.0 | round |
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
* | $94.0m | Acquisition | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
U17.com, also known as U17 Original Comic DreamWorks, was a prominent Chinese webcomic platform. It was founded on October 15, 2009, by Zhou Jingqi, Dong Zhiling, and Yu Xianghua under the parent company Beijing April Star Network Technology Co., Ltd. The platform emerged from a small online community for anime fans started in 2006 by Zhou Jingqi, and it officially launched as a commercial original comic platform after receiving investment from Shanda Network in 2009.
The business operated on an open submission model, allowing registered users to publish their original comics after a review process. This model helped it become one of China's most influential original comics communities, attracting thousands of creators and millions of users. At its peak, the platform hosted over 40,000 comics from 20,000 cartoonists and had nearly 7 million registered users, receiving an average of 40 million daily hits. Revenue was generated through services like a VIP membership and the sale of virtual currency called U17 Coins, which readers could use to support creators.
In August 2015, Guangdong Alpha Animation and Culture Company Ltd. acquired U17.com for RMB 904 million, which at the time was the largest merger and acquisition deal in the history of Chinese animation. The acquisition aimed to integrate U17's extensive user base and content into Alpha's broader Anime, Comic, and Games (ACG) platform. Subsequently, in November 2021, the video-sharing and anime-focused platform Bilibili acquired full ownership of U17 Comics from Alpha Group. On December 31, 2022, U17.com was officially shut down, and its operations were merged into Bilibili Comics, with the original domain now redirecting to Bilibili's comic section.
Keywords: Chinese webcomics, U17.com, original comics, digital comics, Beijing April Star Network, Zhou Jingqi, Alpha Group, Bilibili Comics, ACG platform, online comic community, Chinese animation, webcomic platform, Yaoqi Niang, manhua, Shanda Network, comic submission platform, virtual currency, VIP membership, digital entertainment, Asian comics
