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Celsys

“Can Celsys expand Clip Studio Paint from a Japanese manga tool into the global operating system for digital creators, monetising via subscriptions and a creator platform ecosystem?”

HQJapan
IndustryVertical SaaS / Creative Software
The story

Celsys is a Japanese software company whose flagship product, Clip Studio Paint, grew from a domestic manga creation tool into a globally dominant creative software platform with over 45 million users. As 80% of its user base shifted overseas, the company needed to overhaul its payment infrastructure to support international transactions and a subscription model, leading to the adoption of Stripe for payments, billing, fraud detection, and checkout. Celsys also operates ancillary platforms including Clip Studio Assets, Clip Studio Tips, and cloud services, positioning itself as a full-stack creator economy infrastructure company.

Last 12 months
2026-03
2025-12
Product timeline
2012
Clip Studio Paint launched, growing to over 45 million users worldwide across macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and ChromeOS.· pivot
2015
Clip Studio Paint won the BCN Award for graphics software, establishing market leadership in Japan.· pivot
2023
Celsys integrated Stripe for global payments and subscription billing, replacing its previous payment service to support international expansion.· banking
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Celsys’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Stripe
Accounting gap: minor

Celsys — frequently asked

Who is Celsys's payment processor?

Celsys processes payments through Stripe.

Where is Celsys headquartered?

Celsys is headquartered in Japan.

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