Shopee was founded in 2015 and is a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Its parent company Sea (formerly known as Garena) is the first large-scale Southeast Asian Internet group listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The group was founded in 2009 and received a $170 million Series D financing in 2016, led by Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional Berhad and followed by Tencent (Tencent led the Series A a few years ago).
In addition to e-commerce and its main gaming business, Sea also has Airpay, a payment business similar to Alibaba’s Alipay, and Beetalk, a social business similar to Tencent’s WeChat, which is like the Southeast Asian version of Tencent.
Shopee has created a one-stop social shopping platform for buyers, creating a relaxed, enjoyable, efficient and convenient shopping environment, providing a large number of products with super cost-effectiveness, allowing buyers to browse, purchase and share products anytime, anywhere. Sea released its financial report on November 23, 2018, saying that Shopee’s App downloads have reached 195 million, ranking among the top three shopping App downloads in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Mobile clients contribute more than 90% of traffic, and the number of social media fans exceeds 20 million, making it the fastest growing e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia.
Shopee is a mobile e-commerce platform favored by female users. Clothing accessories, beauty, maternity and baby, home decoration, popular shoes and bags are the main categories. With the increase in male users and different consumer demands, Shopee is expanding to all categories such as 3C digital, men’s clothing, outdoor products, etc.