San Francisco-based video startup Crunchyroll now has more than 200,000 paying subscribers to the premium tier of its service. The company surpassed that milestone just six months after announcing 100,000 paying subscribers, and Crunchyroll co-founder and CEO Kun Gao told me during a phone call Monday that he attributes the growth to entering new markets as well as getting onto additional devices.
Crunchyroll has been specializing on bringing Anime shows to the U.S. and other countries the day after episodes air on Japanese TV. The company has also been branching out to carry Korean drama and Asian live action content, and it’s been exploring ways to add additional content verticals.
However, Gao told me Monday that content is only part of the picture for the company. Crunchyroll launched an expanded e-commerce operation in January, offering subscribers access to special deals for merchandise from their favorite Anime shows. “We’d like to use the membership more like a Costco membership,” he said.
Check out an interview I did with Gao a few months ago below:
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