Most people don’t realize just how global Wattpad’s business is. Here are a few fun facts:
• Only 25% of our 100 million users are from North America, while 25% come from LATAM, 25% from Europe, and 25% from Asia.
• Of the 50 languages on Wattpad, the most popular isn’t English—it’s Spanish. Other widely used languages include Bahasa Indonesia (10 million users) and Tagalog (6 million users), with millions more reading and writing in Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and many others.
• Not only have our print books (yes, we’re a book publisher too) been New York Times bestsellers, but they’ve also hit #1 in multiple countries, including Germany and Colombia.
• #1 on Netflix globally and other streaming platforms? We’ve done that many times—including the Spanish smash hit A Través De Mi Ventana (Through My Window), which we co-produced with Netflix. Many #1-rated TV shows worldwide are based on Wattpad stories—and we co-produce them.
• #1 at the box office? We’ve achieved that in multiple countries as well.
How did we build this?
A lot of things made this happen, but I’ll highlight a few. It started on day one. Here’s a screenshot of our website when we launched in 2006.
Notice that we already supported many key languages worldwide. Why? Because only about 400 million people speak English as their first language—that’s less than 5% of the world’s population.
And we were right! The first language that took off wasn’t something we predicted—it was Vietnamese. We couldn’t have guessed that!
When the first Android phone came out (the T-Mobile G1), we were one of the first to support it. At that time, the iPhone was primarily a high-GDP country phenomenon, while low-GDP countries were dominated by $30 Android phones. When I travelled to these regions, I frequently brought back bags of inexpensive phones so our team could test and ensure our app worked on low-end devices. This allowed us to dominate globally.
When we raised growth capital, we didn’t just seek funding from Silicon Valley investors—we broadened our investor base to include backers from other countries. This helped us learn the nuances of international expansion while gaining support from investors who understood these markets.
When we launched subscriptions, we recognized that a one-size-fits-all model wouldn’t work. Some countries preferred à la carte purchases over all-you-can-read models. So, we introduced our own virtual currency, allowing users to buy content à la carte.
When we expanded into movies and TV shows, we didn’t just partner with Hollywood studios—we forged partnerships with entertainment companies across five continents. This ensured Wattpad story adaptations could be seen everywhere.
And the list goes on.
None of this happened automagically. It took years of conscious, deliberate effort. But once we built the foundation, expanding into new countries became incremental. There’s no free lunch, but it’s also not rocket science—it got easier and easier as we grew.
We built a truly global powerhouse with 100 million users.
If we could do it, you can too.
Choosing between the U.S. and international expansion is a false dichotomy—you can do both. As the world shifts toward intangible assets, building a global business is easier than ever.
Keep in mind that while the U.S. is the largest economy, it only accounts for approximately 26% of the world’s GDP. To create true optionality, not expanding globally—especially beyond the U.S.—is not an option.
Our experience in building a successful global business also allows us to help our portfolio companies scale internationally. We’ve been through the challenges of global expansion firsthand, and we actively share these insights to support the next generation of world-changing companies. Reach out to us if you want to be part of it!
P.S. This blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You are free to copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given.
