Carousell Losses Shrank 40% in 2023 as Recommerce Business Grew

The Southeast Asian e-commerce and classifieds operator Carousell saw revenue rise by 40.5% year-on-year in 2023 according to newly released filings.

Net losses at the Singapore-based company shrank by 39.7% to $38 million as its recommerce division saw its business double in 2023.

Recommence accounted for 46% of total revenue in 2023 with Carousell CFO JJ Ang commenting in a LinkedIn post that the company has been working hard to make the brand "more trusted and convenient to give items a second life".

As well as its e-commerce business Carousell operates general classifieds sites in eight countries in the region including the popular Cho Tot platform in Vietnam and Mudah in Malaysia.

In 2022 Carousell was reportedly engaged in talks to merge with regional real estate portal player 99 Group to form a joint challenge to the region's top real estate player, PropertyGuru. The talks ultimately came to nothing after Carousell's plans to go public via a SPAC fell through.