Weeks after launching an in-app digital stationery store, note-taking company Goodnotes said today that it has invested $1.9 million in a South Korea-based digital stationery company. We in the making.
WeBudding was founded by Donghwan Shin, Donggyun Ko, and Chaeyoung Lee in 2018. The trio started out selling physical paper notebooks aimed at college students, but eventually took a digital turn. It now sells various digital stationery items such as planners, journals, stickers and notebooks. The company told TechCrunch that 80% of its sales come from mobile devices, while 20% comes from its websites.
In addition to Goodnotes’ investment, WeBudding also received a $200,000 investment from Strong Ventures, making it a $2.1 million Series A round. The stationary digital startup has received $4.7 million in funding to date. While the company did not disclose the exact valuation, it told TechCrunch that the latest round generated a 52% increase in valuation.
WeBudding already hosted many Goodnotes-compatible assets on its platforms. With the recent launch of the Goodnotes store and strategic investment, WeBudding plans to develop globally relevant content for the note-taking app store.
Shin, CEO of the digital stationery startup, said WeBudding is looking to improve its mobile app and also work on localizing content for different countries.
“We are also working to expand our offering to things like KakaoTalk (a South Korea-based chat app) themes. Additionally, we want to work with famous IPs, such as artists and musicians, to create branded digital stationery,” Chin said.
WeBudding said it has 2,500 creators on board with more than 16,000 items in the store. He did not reveal how he compensates these creators or what percentage the company takes of sales of the digital print material.
In August, Goodnotes updated its app in four years with features like ai-powered handwriting and a digital marketplace. The company, which won Apple’s iPad App of the Year in 2022, has 21 million monthly active users.
