TBS Planet comics is a content studio based out of Bangalore started in 2016. It is IIT Roorkee incubated and funded startup.
Currently, it is among India’s fastest growing comics and graphic novel publishers.
Home to around six Indian superhero characters like “Ved”, “Varun”, “Karma” etc. It has been an official comics partner for Bollywood Movies like – “Shivaay” by Ajay Devgn Films and “A Flying Jatt” by Balaji Motion Pictures.
It creates content in different genres – Action Superheroes, Comedy, Horror, Mythologies etc.
Rajeev Tamhankar, Founder and CEO of TBS Planet comics, loved writing since he was a kid. He used to tear-off the central pages of his notebooks, staple them; write and draw comics all over it and then relish as if he has authored few books – that was his boyhood dream.
After graduating from his alma mater, IIT Roorkee, he also authored a book titled “Get Corporated before you get fired!” and that is when he took writing much more seriously.
“When I started TBS Planet in July 2016 with the comic book ‘Ved’, it was more of a hobby. But very soon we got contracts from Balaji Motion Pictures, and later Ajay Devgn FFilms to create comics for their Bollywood movies – ‘A Flying Jatt’ and ‘Shivaay’, respectively. That’s when I quit my job at Xiaomi and started this venture full-time.”said Rajeev.
TBS Planet began as a printed comics company, and when they wanted to move to a digital medium, they were unable to find an effective and sustainable way to reach customers. They even created a mobile app, but discovered that at Rs 200 per subscriber, the customer acquisition cost through the app was too high to scale up. That’s when they decided to use WhatsApp for Business to reach new subscribers.
Today, 100 percent of its revenue is dependent solely on WhatsApp. Customers buy an annual subscription for Rs 300 and get to read new comics every day.