마코빌
6 known investors
Macovill (마코빌) is a South Korean entertainment content company that creates original character IP and produces animation, games, and comics through a media-mix strategy. Its content includes the animated comedy series "Chitabu" and a match-3 puzzle game featuring the character Bellygom.
Also known as MACOVILL · Makovill · 주식회사 마코빌
Founders & leadership
Investors · 6
Also in the syndicate · 5
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Macovill (주식회사 마코빌) is a South Korean entertainment content company that creates original character IP and develops it across animation, games and comics using a media-mix strategy. Its stated goal is to build characters with broad appeal across ages and to construct a "universe-type" ecosystem around its own IP. The company positions art and technology as complementary, describing artists and engineers alike as creators, and states it prioritizes IP outcomes over individual achievement.
Publicly described content includes "Cheetahboo" (치타부), a comedic sitcom-style animation and YouTube series about a hero-trainee and his friends defending "Planet Evergreen," and "BellyGom Match Land," a match-3 puzzle game set in a rundown amusement park taken over by the character Belly Bear. Earlier development work was reported under project names "Project Cheetahboo," "Project Bosco" and "RPG Project OZ." A Cheetahboo spin-off brand, "Armi Gongjakso" (아르미 공작소), offers paper-craft and template-based making content aimed at girls aged 5-10, with a web service in preparation that is to include template downloads, avatar customization and QR-linked web games.
Beyond content production, Macovill's terms of use describe video services, game services and related add-ons, comic viewing and social network services. The company has extended into broadcast distribution, publishing and offline experiences, including a pop-up store and children's craft classes.
Founding story
Lee Joohyun, a former vice president of Smart Study, the company behind Pinkfong and Baby Shark, started Macovill in February 2020 with colleagues drawn from IT and game companies such as Nexon and Neowiz, initially producing character-based game and animation content under projects including "Project Cheetahboo" and "Project Bosco."
Business model
Macovill creates and owns character IP and monetizes it across multiple media: YouTube and animation content, mobile games (including a free-to-play match-3 title with paid digital content and items per its terms of use), comics, goods, publishing, broadcast/VOD licensing, offline retail experiences and planned digital web services.
Revenue is derived from IP exploitation: advertising-supported and licensed video content, broadcast and VOD licensing contracts, mobile game monetization through paid digital content and items, goods and publishing, and offline experiences.
Traction
Cheetahboo recorded an average of about 320 million YouTube views per month as of February 2025 and had passed 1.5 billion views earlier when a French-language channel opened; by May 2026 it reported approximately 7.4 million subscribers and 8.6 billion cumulative views across eight language channels. Broadcast wins include Mexico's Canal 22 and an exclusive TV/VOD deal with Thailand's Boom Channel. The Armi Gongjakso spin-off reported 160,000 monthly active users on its Naver blog, and a 2026 pop-up store drew over 300 children signing up for one-day craft classes.
Latest developments
In May 2026 Macovill announced an undisclosed follow-on investment from Laguna Investment and Kona Venture Partners, to be used to strengthen production around the Cheetahboo and Armi Gongjakso IP and accelerate expansion into offline business, publishing and broadcasting. Cheetahboo had reached roughly 7.4 million YouTube subscribers and 8.6 billion cumulative views across eight language channels, following a first-ever K-children's-song IP entry onto Mexico's Canal 22 and an exclusive TV/VOD contract with Thailand's Boom Channel. A pop-up store ran from 20 April to 10 May 2026 at Hyundai Department Store Kintex in Goyang, and the Armi Gongjakso brand recorded 160,000 monthly active users on its Naver blog.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Macovill describes itself as a cross-media content IP company and is characterized by investors as a candidate to grow into a comprehensive media IP company spanning video, characters, goods and games, in a market where global players are competing to secure proprietary IP.
Investors cited the team's content production capability as the core competency for a media-mix strategy, its ability to produce content across platforms from YouTube video to mobile games, and its ownership of proprietary content IP that can drive a media-mix approach. The company also states it has collected data on global user behaviour and correlations between media channels since its early stage to build consumer-oriented content.
Technology
The company combines creative production with engineering, developing mobile games (including a match-3 puzzle title) and video, comic and social-network services delivered across PC, TV and mobile devices, plus planned web services with downloadable templates, avatar customization and QR-linked web games.
Go-to-market
Distribution runs primarily through YouTube channels in multiple languages, mobile game stores, television and VOD partners abroad, publishing, and offline channels such as department-store pop-up stores with children's workshop classes; a direct web service for the Armi Gongjakso brand is in preparation.
Family audiences from children to adults for its animation, with the Armi Gongjakso spin-off targeting girls aged 5-10; mobile game players; and broadcast, publishing and retail partners licensing its IP.
Geography
Headquartered in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (921-ho, 9F, 27 Teheran-ro 2-gil). Its Cheetahboo IP reaches audiences through eight language channels including Korean, Spanish, English and Indonesian, with broadcast deals in Mexico (public broadcaster Canal 22) and Thailand (Boom Channel), a French-language channel, and offline activity in Gyeonggi Province, Korea.
History
The company was founded in February 2020 by Lee Joohyun, previously a vice president at Smart Study (known for Pinkfong and Baby Shark), together with staff from IT and game companies including Nexon and Neowiz. It raised KRW 1.5bn in seed funding announced in April 2020 and KRW 3bn in a pre-Series A round announced in September 2020, bringing cumulative funding to KRW 4.5bn at that point. Later coverage references a KRW 13bn raise involving HYBE and others, a KRW 4.5bn Series A2 announced in February 2025 led by HYBE IM and Laguna Investment, and an undisclosed follow-on round from Laguna Investment and Kona Venture Partners announced in May 2026.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 7
launches, deals, and filingsMacovill disclosed a follow-on investment of undisclosed size from Laguna Investment, Kona Venture Partners and others, to strengthen production around Cheetahboo and Armi Gongjakso and accelerate offline, publishing and broadcast expansion.
A pop-up store ran from 20 April to 10 May 2026 at Hyundai Department Store's Kintex branch in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where more than 300 children applied for one-day craft classes.
Cheetahboo signed an exclusive TV and VOD distribution contract with Thailand's Boom Channel.
Macovill announced a KRW 4.5 billion Series A2 round led by HYBE IM and Laguna Investment with participation from Kona Venture Partners, SmartStudy Ventures and KC Ventures, to fund IP business expansion and game development.
Cheetahboo became, per the report, the first K-children's-song IP to be carried by Mexico's public broadcaster Canal 22.
Macovill raised a total of KRW 3 billion in pre-Series A funding from Mirae Asset Venture Investment and Kona Venture Partners, bringing cumulative funding to KRW 4.5 billion; proceeds earmarked for hiring and faster development toward global markets.
Macovill announced a seed round of KRW 1.5 billion from Springcamp, SmartStudy Ventures and Laguna Investment, to be used for character-based game and animation content and a global push.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- 마코빌macovill.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does 마코빌 do?
- Korean cross-media content IP company creating character IP such as Cheetahboo across animation, games, comics and licensing.
- Who founded 마코빌?
- 마코빌 was founded by Lee Joohyun.
- Who are 마코빌's investors?
- 마코빌's investors include Laguna Investment.