English manga, webtoon, and web novel platform VoyceMe has announced the addition of Dexter Ong, Wattpad WEBTOON Studios’ former Head of Business Development and Strategic Initiatives, and Rob Pereyda, whose former roles include Head of Anime, Editorial & Publishing at Netflix and the licensing VP of Crunchyroll, to its executive leadership.
Ong is now VoyceMe’s Vice President and Head of Business Development and Strategic Initiatives. Pereyda, who is also currently principal consultant at his anime consultant practice Henshin, holds the role of Fractional Head of Anime at VoyceMe.
According to their respective LinkedIn profiles, Ong joined as Head of Business Development and Strategic Initiatives in May, while Pereyda has held his role since March.
Pereyda previously announced his VoyceMe position in May via a Henshin press release. That press release also revealed that the move was part of a wider deal where the consultancy will help VoyceMe “build a comprehensive anime strategy, inclusive of consumers, creators, finance, production, licensing, distribution, merchandise, and more.” In June, Pereyda penned a paid advertorial post on Anime News Network in which he highlighted VoyceMe founder Dylan Telano (as part of a list of 11 startup founders) and Telano’s plans “to build VoyceMe into the ultimate fan-driven anime experience and include manga production, distribution, creator tools, anime, merchandise and more all on one platform.”
VoyceMe, which claims to have “over eight million monthly visits and an increase in readership of 1,000% since 2023,” also announced that it has raised its total capital to US$10 million after securing new seed investments. The latest funding round was led by Redpoint Ventures, with other participants including existing investors Torch Capital, Red Sea Ventures, and Clara Vista Partners.
“The funding allows VoyceMe to expand its platform offering and continue to build out its content and proprietary technology,” says its press release.
Among VoyceMe’s proprietary technology is a generative AI tool which they claim as “ethical” and trained on its own dataset. According to the platform, its AI-powered “story-driven technology,” which is in beta and “set to reach general availability in 2025,” is meant to “create more publishing opportunities for first-time creators, experienced artists, and IP looking to enter the anime world,” as well as to help “reduce creator burnout, fight against image scraping, and increase content revenue opportunities,”
While VoyceMe doesn’t seem to publicly highlight generative AI outside of its LinkedIn page, its involvement in the field is notable enough for Redpoint Ventures early stage investor Meera Clark to state, “As we envision a future where AI transforms every corner of entertainment, we believe that VoyceMe is uniquely positioned to own the market for manga and anime with its proprietary library of training data, responsible generative tooling platform, and engaged user base that together create a compelling flywheel for both creators and fans alike.”
Telano began working on VoyceMe during his time at Skidmore College. The titles that are available on the platform include the action webcomics God Game and Linked Soul.
Source: Press release