Digging into the numbers in tech

Today, we’ve got the deets on:

• How to make sense of Sea’s results
• Gender diversity in tech

Dear Garage reader, 

South-east Asian tech major Sea turned in a set of fairly solid results last week. It achieved its first profitable year, exceeded analyst forecasts for topline, and guided for healthy growth in both its gaming and e-commerce arms.

Following the announcement, CEO Forrest Li told employees in an e-mail that the company will focus on improving the price competitiveness of product listings on Shopee. He also highlighted digital banking and insurance services as key priorities.

Most things point to Sea having righted its ship. Yet, a closer look at its financials show that the company is far from its glory days of post-pandemic success.

Garena, often regarded as Sea’s cash cow, is highly dependent on the success of hit game Free Fire. That mobile game peaked at more than 100 million daily active users in February.

But even as Sea executives forecast further growth for Free Fire, Garena has been sputtering for some time, and its prospects look bleak unless it can produce another hit game.

South-east Asia’s biggest tech companies have often believed that achieving profitability would turn the tides of investor sentiment in their favour. The past year has shown that the reality is much more complicated.

The price swings of Grab and Sea, despite hitting profitability targets, suggest that investors want both profits, growth, and solid proof that the company has the ability to beat the competition. GoTo’s results are out next Tuesday – stay tuned as we bring you the news.

Lastly, a belated International Women’s Day (IWD) to all readers! IWD was last Friday, but the work happens every day. The good news is, women-led startups are beginning to take a bigger share of South-east Asia’s startup funding.

Still, there’s a lot of work to be done. Women entrepreneurs need much more mentorship, and more structural approaches to channel financing to women-led ventures need to be considered if the industry wishes to move the needle.

I’ll be looking forward to a day where I attend a tech event, and I’m not just one out of five ladies in the room. Thanks for reading, and have a good week!

5 things to know

• Deep tech maverick RARELY do you find founders at the helm of government-backed agencies. SGInnovate chief executive Lim Jui has bucked that trend. Read more
• Sea of charts CHARTS of Sea’s financials present a snapshot of how the company is doing. Read more
• Consumer AI SINGAPORE-BASED Ai Palette has raised US$4 million from B2B-focused Tin Men Capital. Read more
• In the bag CARBON project developer Thryve.Earth has secured US$2.6 million in its funding round led by Temasek-backed venture capital firm Openspace. Read more
• Job cuts TreeDots, an online marketplace that lets users purchase surplus produce at lower prices, has laid off some of its employees, sources said. Read more