Garena Interactive Holding Ltd., the most valuable tech startup in Southeast Asia at more than $3.75 billion, is moving forward with plans for an initial public offering in the U.S. that could raise around $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Headquartered in Singapore, Garena was founded in 2009 by Forrest Li and his friends. Forrest named the company “Garena” – a play on the words “global arena” – in reference to his broader aspirations to connect people via the Internet. Garena has since grown swiftly to become a leading platform provider for online PC and mobile digital content, eCommerce and payments across Asia, serving millions of users.
In 2010, they launched Garena+, an online platform for people to meet, chat and play games with one another. By combining a communication tool with compelling digital content, Garena re-invented the business model for online entertainment in Southeast Asia and created a platform with strong network effects.
Since then, Garena has steadily innovated by adding successful extensions to their original platform:
- 2013: they launched BeeTalk, the first indigenous mobile social network in Southeast Asia.
- 2014: they introduced AirPay, a key tool for bridging the ‘digital divide’ to provide accessible financial services in emerging markets. Garena users can pay for online content, telephone bills, utilities, e-commerce transactions etc. on the AirPay network – regardless of whether they have a bank account or credit card.
- 2015: they launched Shopee, a social-first, mobile-centric marketplace where users come together to browse, shop and sell on the go, anytime, anywhere. Shopee is fully integrated with respected logistics networks and local payment providers. Shopee aims to make online shopping easy, secure, and fuss-free for both sellers and buyers.
Garena’s investors include General Atlantic, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Tovio Annus, a co-founder of Skype.
