Sea
Sea Limited operates Garena (gaming, 160+ markets), Shopee (largest pan-regional e-commerce in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Brazil), and Monee (digital financial services with US$9.9B loan book). The Singapore-headquartered group also runs an AI Centre of Excellence and proprietary Compass Max v3.5 LLM.
- Company typePublic
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersSingapore, Singapore
- Headcount5,001–10,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Sea does
Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) is a Singapore-headquartered technology company founded in 2009 by Forrest Li that operates three integrated core businesses: Garena, established 2009, is a leading online games developer and publisher with global reach across more than 160 markets, anchored by the Free Fire mobile battle royale franchise; Shopee, launched in 2015, is the largest pan-regional e-commerce marketplace in Southeast Asia and Taiwan and a leading platform in Brazil, serving approximately 400 million active buyers and 20 million sellers with US$127.4 billion in FY2025 GMV and supported by the SPX Express logistics arm; and Monee, established 2014 (formerly SeaMoney), provides digital financial services including mobile wallets, payments processing, consumer and SME credit, banking through MariBank, and insurtech, with a US$9.9 billion loan book and stable 90-day non-performing loans around 1.1%.
The group's underlying technology stack includes a proprietary 245-billion-parameter Large Language Model called Compass Max v3.5 tailored for Southeast Asian languages and e-commerce, already deployed in live production across Shopee at materially lower cost than comparable commercial LLMs. Sea generates revenue through marketplace transaction-based fees, advertising, freemium in-app purchases across Garena games, usage-based fees and net interest margin across Monee financial services, and logistics services. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via app stores, marketplace storefronts, and now ChatGPT for the Shopee App across seven Southeast Asian markets and Brazil under a strategic partnership with OpenAI signed on June 22, 2026. Complementary partnerships include Google for AI-powered shopping agents (February 2026) and integrations spanning logistics (Carousell Official Delivery in Singapore) and consumer AI (Migoo companion chatbot launched in the US via Apple iMessage).
FY2025 GAAP revenue reached US$22.9 billion (+36.4% year-on-year) with net income of US$1.6 billion (+260% year-on-year), and Q1 2026 revenue accelerated to US$7.1 billion (+47% year-on-year) with adjusted EBITDA exceeding US$1 billion for the first time. The company went public on the NYSE and, as of June 23, 2026, carried a market capitalization of US$55.91 billion, having declined over 60% from its September 2025 high of approximately $199.30.
Sea firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sea
- Legal name
- Sea Limited
- Website
- https://sea.com
- Company type
- Public
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 5,001–10,000 employees
- Short description
- Sea Limited operates Garena (gaming, 160+ markets), Shopee (largest pan-regional e-commerce in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Brazil), and Monee (digital financial services with US$9.9B loan book). The Singapore-headquartered group also runs an AI Centre of Excellence and proprietary Compass Max v3.5 LLM.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sea industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Pan-Regional Internet Platform
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Boat Dealers (441222), Software Publishers (513210), Navigational Services to Shipping (48833)
- SIC
- Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cross-border Marketplaces (Multi-seller) (CRAFAJAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & FX Management (Consumer/SME) (FSAGAKAF), Toy & Game E-commerce Specialists (CRALAFAL)
Keywords
Where Sea is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Singapore
- HQ country
- Singapore
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
Sea business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Shopee E-commerce Marketplace Revenue: Revenue generated from e-commerce marketplace operations including transaction-based marketplace fees, advertising, and logistics services across Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Brazil. Q1 2026 Shopee revenue was US$5.1 billion; FY2025 GMV reached US$127.4 billion.
- Garena Digital Entertainment Revenue: Revenue from online games development and publishing across 160+ markets. Includes game bookings, in-app purchases, and licensing. Q1 2026 Garena bookings reached US$931 million (up 20% YoY); FY2025 bookings were US$2.9 billion with 633.3 million quarterly active users.
- Monee Digital Financial Services Revenue: Revenue from digital financial services including mobile wallet services, payment processing, consumer and SME credit, banking, and insurtech. Q1 2026 Monee revenue grew 57.8% YoY to US$1.2 billion with US$9.9 billion loan book outstanding.
- Advertising and Marketing Services: Advertising and promotional services across Sea's platforms including Shopee advertising, marketplace fees, and promotional partnerships. Sea and OpenAI collaborated on marketing promotions and ShopeeVIP membership to make ChatGPT more accessible to users.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | — | Shopee marketplace operates on transaction-based fees paid by sellers |
| Freemium | — | Garena games are predominantly free-to-play with in-app purchase monetization |
| Usage-based | — | Monee offers BNPL, cash loans, and payment solutions with 90-day NPLs stabilizing around 1.1% |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Sea product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sea Limited is a global technology company that operates three integrated direct-to-consumer businesses: Garena develops and publishes online games across 160+ markets (with Free Fire as flagship title); Shopee operates the largest pan-regional e-commerce marketplace in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Brazil serving ~400 million active buyers and ~20 million sellers; and Monee provides digital financial services including mobile wallets, payment processing, consumer and SME credit, digital banking via MariBank, and insurtech. The businesses are unified by proprietary AI capabilities including the Compass Max v3.5 Large Language Model and integrated payments, logistics (SPX Express), and fulfillment infrastructure.
Product overview
Sea Limited is a global technology company operating a platform-plus-three-modules architecture across three core business segments, each operating as an independent sub-brand: Garena (digital entertainment — online games development, publishing, and esports), Shopee (e-commerce marketplace and pan-regional platform in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Brazil, supported by its SPX Express logistics arm), and Monee (digital financial services including mobile wallets, payments processing, credit, banking via the MariBank subsidiary, and insurtech). These three core businesses are unified under the parent Sea Limited platform, which also houses proprietary technology including the Compass Max v3.5 in-house LLM (245 billion parameters), the Migoo generative-AI consumer chatbot, and a dedicated AI Centre of Excellence plus an AI investment team driving the company's strategic pivot beyond core e-commerce. Together, Garena, Shopee, and Monee serve consumers and small businesses across Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Brazil, and other markets with the stated mission of bettering lives with technology.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Garena: Leading online games developer and publisher with global footprint across more than 160 markets; developer and publisher of Free Fire.
- Shopee
- Monee
- SPX Express
Products and services
- Garena Leading online games developer and publisher with a global footprint across more than 160 markets, established in 2009. Developer and publisher of Free Fire (one of the largest mobile games in the world) and exclusive licensor/publisher of games from global partners. Also a leading esports organizer, hosting events ranging from grassroots tournaments to globally viewed professional competitions; the Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore holds the record for highest concurrent esports viewership at 5.4 million peak viewers.
- Shopee Launched in 2015, the largest pan-regional e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan and a leading platform in Brazil. Provides consumers an easy, secure, fast, and enjoyable online shopping experience with wide product assortment, supported by integrated payments and seamless fulfilment. Ranked the top e-commerce brand in YouGov's "Best Global Brands" 2022 and fifth overall. Operates SPX Express logistics arm in support of fulfillment.
- Monee Established in 2014 (formerly SeaMoney), a leading digital payments and financial services provider in Southeast Asia with a growing presence in Latin America. Offers digital financial services and products including mobile wallet services, payment processing, credit, banking (via wholly owned subsidiary MariBank Singapore), and insurtech.
- MariBank Singapore Wholly owned digital banking subsidiary of Sea, operating under a Singapore digital full bank license with subsidiaries including MariBank Philippines. Offers deposit, lending, and digital financial services; loans and advances to customers reached S$222.4 million in FY2025.
- Compass Max v3.5 Sea's in-house 245-billion-parameter Large Language Model tailored for Southeast Asian languages and e-commerce contexts. Operates with greater responsiveness and at a fraction of the cost of other leading commercially served LLMs. Deployed live powering AI features across Shopee's e-commerce platform.
- Migoo Sea's first generative-AI chatbot companion, integrated with Apple iMessage, functioning as a hyper-personalized companion that remembers user preferences. Operated through Marvelous Technology, a Sea-registered entity in Sacramento, California. Soft-launched in the US market as Sea's first significant entry into the American consumer AI space.
Quantifiable outcome
- Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore holds the record for highest concurrent viewership (5.4 million concurrent viewers) of any esports match in history
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Sea
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Sea technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability12 records
Feature6 records
Sea partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- OpenAIflagshipSea and OpenAI signed a new strategic partnership on June 22, 2026 to drive AI adoption and innovation across Southeast Asia and Brazil. The Shopee App is now available in ChatGPT for users from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Brazil—making Shopee the first e-commerce platform of its kind available across Southeast Asia and Latin America in ChatGPT. The partnership includes ChatGPT for Business trials for Shopee sellers and support for AI adoption efforts through the Codex Hackathon series.
- Government of Vietnam (Tô Lâm)flagshipForrest Li met with General Secretary and President Tô Lâm during his state visit to Singapore to discuss Vietnam's digital economy and Sea's plans to expand its presence in Vietnam, including digital banking and fintech initiatives. Discussions also covered SPX's plans to launch one of Southeast Asia's most advanced warehousing and parcel-sorting centers in Hưng Yên Province in 2027.
- MariBank (wholly owned subsidiary)coreMariBank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sea in Singapore, leverages Southeast Asian markets to drive loan growth toward profitability. MariBank's Philippines operations contributed S$155.1 million toward its S$227.1 million group total in FY2025. MariBank Singapore posted wider losses of S$55.6 million in FY2025 amid increased allowances for credit losses.
- Digital Industry Singapore (DISG)flagshipSea established an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence (AI CoE) in Singapore on April 20, 2026 with support from Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), a joint office by Singapore Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore, and Infocomm Media Development Authority. The initiative aligns with Singapore's National AI Strategy 2.0 and Budget 2026 priorities.
- Nanyang Technological University (NTU) SingaporecoreGarena Singapore and NTU Singapore collaborated on the inaugural Garena Ultimate Hackathon, bringing together 197 students to develop 52 digital games in two months. NTU Career & Attachment Office marked its first collaboration with a games company for a hackathon.
- Carousell SingaporecoreSPX Express Singapore joined Carousell Official Delivery to expand delivery options for pre-owned items. With the addition of SPX service points, the Carousell Official Delivery network now includes more than 1,400 drop-off points across Singapore, with subsidized delivery fees starting at S$1.80, label-less shipping, and daily doorstep pick-up services.
- Google (Alphabet)flagshipSea partnered with Alphabet's Google in February 2026 to develop AI-powered shopping agents and integrate AI across its platform, including developing AI shopping agents. The partnership is part of Sea's pivot toward AI integration under CEO Forrest Li's ambition to reach trillion-dollar market capitalisation.
Scale indicators14 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Sea competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Mercado Libre: Mercado Libre is the leading e-commerce and fintech platform in Latin America, with Mercado Pago for payments and lending. Highly comparable to Sea on the Latin America strategy given Shopee's leading position in Brazil and Monee's growing presence there, and on the broader marketplace-plus-fintech model.
- NetEase: NetEase is a leading Chinese online game developer and publisher with global operations. Comparable to Garena as a global gaming publisher, though Sea is broader (e-commerce, fintech) and NetEase is deeper in self-developed MMORPGs.
- Tencent Holdings: Tencent is a major Chinese internet conglomerate and one of Garena's earliest strategic backers. Comparable to Sea on the digital entertainment side (gaming is a core revenue line) and as a model for a multi-vertical internet platform (social, gaming, fintech) — though much larger and broader in scope.
Regional players
- Meituan: Meituan is a Chinese super-app combining local services, food delivery, and community group-buying e-commerce with integrated payments. Comparable to Sea's multi-vertical platform model (e-commerce + fintech + ecosystem), though operating primarily in mainland China rather than SEA.
- Kakao Corp: Kakao is a Korean super-app combining messaging (KakaoTalk), mobility, payments (KakaoPay), and banking. Comparable to Sea on the super-app thesis of ecosystem-driven consumer engagement, though primarily operating in Korea rather than SEA.
Direct peers
- GoTo Group (Gojek): GoTo is an Indonesian super-app combining Gojek (mobility, delivery) with Tokopedia (e-commerce) and GoPay (payments). Directly comparable to Sea as a multi-vertical SEA consumer platform with e-commerce, mobility, and fintech — the only true SEA super-app peer to Sea's three-business ecosystem.
- TikTok Shop (ByteDance): TikTok Shop is Shopee's fastest-growing direct competitor in SEA, having taken Vietnam share from 29% to 41% in 2025 via social-commerce-native format. Directly competes on consumer acquisition, seller onboarding, and engagement mechanics in the same SEA geographies.
- Lazada Group: Lazada is the closest direct competitor to Shopee in Southeast Asian e-commerce, operating across the same geographies (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) with similar marketplace model and integrated logistics. Together with Shopee and TikTok Shop it controls ~98.8% of SEA platform e-commerce.
- Grab Holdings: Grab is SEA's leading super-app, combining ride-hailing, food delivery, and digital financial services (GrabPay, lending). Directly comparable to Sea on the Monee side (digital financial services in SEA) and on the broader super-app thesis of monetizing consumer reach through multiple verticals.
- Tokopedia (GoTo Group): Tokopedia is Indonesia's leading e-commerce marketplace, now part of TikTok's SEA e-commerce joint venture. Directly comparable to Shopee in Indonesia — the largest SEA e-commerce market — and operates a similar C2C/B2C marketplace model with integrated payments via GoPay.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat7 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Sea social profiles
Digital presenceSea financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sea leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Sea subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries8 records
Sea funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds10 records
Investors14 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sea M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A3 records
Investments24 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sea
What does Sea do?
Sea Limited is a global technology company that operates three integrated direct-to-consumer businesses: Garena develops and publishes online games across 160+ markets (with Free Fire as flagship title); Shopee operates the largest pan-regional e-commerce marketplace in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Brazil serving ~400 million active buyers and ~20 million sellers; and Monee provides digital financial services including mobile wallets, payment processing, consumer and SME credit, digital banking via MariBank, and insurtech. The businesses are unified by proprietary AI capabilities including the Compass Max v3.5 Large Language Model and integrated payments, logistics (SPX Express), and fulfillment infrastructure.
Is Sea a public or private company?
Sea is a public company. It is classified as public and is currently operating.
When was Sea founded?
Sea was founded in 2009. It employs 5,001 to 10,000 people.
Where is Sea based?
Sea is headquartered in Singapore, Singapore, in the Asia region.
How does Sea make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Shopee E-commerce Marketplace Revenue is the primary driver. The others are garena Digital Entertainment Revenue, monee Digital Financial Services Revenue and advertising and Marketing Services.
Who are Sea's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Mercado Libre, NetEase and Tencent Holdings. Regional players are Meituan and Kakao Corp. Direct peers are GoTo Group (Gojek), TikTok Shop (ByteDance), Lazada Group, Grab Holdings and Tokopedia (GoTo Group).
Does Sea have an API?
No public API is recorded for Sea.
What industry is Sea in?
Sea's product category is Pan-Regional Internet Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAFAJAA, Cross-border Marketplaces (Multi-seller), with a secondary code of FSAGAKAF, Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & FX Management (Consumer/SME). Its NAICS code is 518210 and its SIC code is 5945.