Mantayay secures US$5M, says AI will boost creation without replacing creators

Mantayay Global Holdings, a Malaysia-born TikTok-first media company founded in 2023, is turning heads in the Southeast Asian creator economy after securing USD 5 million in its first institutional funding round led by Kairous Capital. While the news broke last week, Mantayay is framing the investment as a springboard to expand regionally and advance AI-driven content, positioning itself at the intersection of creativity, technology, and commerce.

The funding will support the company’s expansion across Northeast Asia, strengthen its creator network, and enhance its data-driven content-commerce infrastructure. Mantayay currently manages over 4,000 TikTok creators, produces more than 1,000 short-form videos monthly, and reaches over 100 million monthly views across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Its flagship original IP, Terpaling Menantu (“The perfect daughter-in-law”), has amassed more than 300 million cumulative views, cementing Mantayay as a leading creative studio in short-form storytelling.

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Joel Lim Min Sheu, co-founder and director of Mantayay, sees 2026 as a pivotal year for the creator economy. Drawing on his own journey from reaching one million followers in 64 days to becoming the world’s top creator for game downloads, Joel highlighted that AI-generated content and real-person creator content will increasingly coexist.

“AI will make it easier and more affordable to produce complex content, but real creators still deliver authenticity, emotion, and connection that audiences and brands trust,” he told A+M. Joel believes the investment from Kairous Capital validates Mantayay’s vision that creativity, commerce, and technology together represent the next big wave in the region.

The injection of capital opens doors for Mantayay to scale in multiple directions. The company plans to accelerate AI-driven content production by developing tools and workflows that allow creators and in-house teams to produce high-quality content faster, without sacrificing the emotional authenticity Mantayay is known for. Original IPs such as Terpaling Menantu will continue to expand, and the company is building a pipeline of short dramas and content franchises tailored for regional markets.

Mantayay is also broadening its gaming-focused offerings, partnering with clients across Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea on influencer campaigns, full-scale content production, live activations, and esports collaborations. The funding will enable the company to expand its physical footprint with new offices and local teams in key Asian markets, effectively positioning Mantayay as a full-service creative backbone for brands and creators.

“From day one, we’ve proven that short-form storytelling can be both creative and commercial,” Joel added. “With this investment, we can scale our vision across markets and technologies, combining AI-assisted workflows with the human creativity and emotional authenticity that defines our content.”

By framing the investment as both a validation of past successes and a launchpad for AI-driven regional growth, Mantayay underscores the growing importance of technology-enabled creativity in the evolving Southeast Asian creator economy. Kairous Capital's investment in Mantayay comes on the heels of Publicis Groupe's acquisition of HEPMIL Media Group, an influencer, content, and social agency in Southeast Asia.

The move combines HEPMIL’s expertise in building digital communities and managing local creators with Publicis Groupe’s data capabilities, including Lotame and Epsilon’s ID graph covering more than 800 million consumer profiles in the region. The integration aims to strengthen Publicis’ position in identity-driven influencer marketing, offering clients the region’s only creator practice capable of unifying social and audience strategy, influencer management, and data-led content creation.

Analysts MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to also said this deal and strategy is shaping the next evolution of creator-driven marketing, influencing everything from innovation and creator diversity to the balance between boutique agencies and large integrated solutions.

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