Asian startups rising to the financing challenge

Shoppe went from a nearly US$900mil (RM4bil) cash loss a year earlier to an ebitda or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of almost US$200mil (RM893.8mil) in the December quarter. — picture courtesy of Shopee PR

JUST when it looked like the largest of South-East Asia’s Internet firms was yet another posterchild of cheap money, a bubbly startup that had grown too much too fast, Sea Ltd’s top executives took an axe to costs.

They closed down some Latin American operations, cut jobs, sacrificed their own salaries, and squeezed nearly US$500mil (RM2.2bil) out of the promotional expenses at their eCommerce unit.