Singapore’s Carousell hits profitability milestone, banks on AI as ‘force multiplier’

Singapore-based Carousell achieved its first positive adjusted operating profit, with revenue growing 18% year-on-year to US$141 million. Co-founder Marcus Tan attributed the milestone to years of investment in user experience and expressed optimism about future growth, including leveraging AI as a 'force multiplier'.

Singapore’s Carousell hits profitability milestone, banks on AI as ‘force multiplier’ Co-founder Marcus Tan says he is ‘excited about the growth ahead’ as years of investment in user experience begin to pay off Singapore https://www.scmp.com/topics/singapore?module=inline&pgtype=article office, a red tunnel greets employees with the company’s mission to “make second-hand the first choice” – a slogan its leaders say is moving closer to reality as the platform for buying and selling used goods recorded its first positive adjusted operating profit. The Singapore-headquartered company, last valued at US$1.1 billion in 2021, said on Tuesday it had achieved positive Ebitda – earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation – for the first time, using the closely watched measure of operating performance. Revenue grew 18 per cent year on year to US$141 million. For Carousell, founded in 2012 as a listings app where users could sell unwanted items, the milestone is also a test of its evolution from online classifieds into a more trusted, managed re-commerce business. Speaking to This Week in Asia from Carousell’s office in Singapore’s start-up district one-north, co-founder Marcus Tan, who started the company with Quek Siu Rui and Lucas Ngoo, said the most rewarding part of the milestone was seeing years of investment in user experience begin to pay off. “It’s a multi-year kind of transformation, so whatever happened today was built many years back, and I think we are forward-looking as well as excited about the growth ahead,” Tan said.