Carousell is an online marketplace operator startup. It announces that Carousell advertising will be its core focus this year. Therefore, the marketplace operator is willing to dish out more cash on talent to drive growth.
The startup claims that it has a very attractive advertising ecosystem and premium publisher.
Carousell Record
Carousell mentions that Singapore user spends an average of 13 minutes daily on its platform. Therefore, the number of users can be a very attractive targeting opportunity for advertisers.
In 2018, Carousell generated $7 million in revenue. From the total revenue, direct media services and programmatic advertising collectively accounted for $4.17 million. Its total revenue grew four times from the previous year.
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The startup currently valued at over $550 million. However, it registered a loss of $25 million in 2018. Luckily the loss is narrower than the previous year’s loss of $ 29.8 million.
Besides, Carousell’s bottom line was hit by the $17.5 million in staff costs. The number is 2.5 times its topline for the year. Moreover, this cost could be even higher in 2019, since its recent and planned hires in pursuit of monetization.
In addition, the startup also added over 100 employees in the Philippines in April. At the same time, it acquired a loss-making unit of classifieds giant OLX for US$34 million in stock.
The acquisition was part of a $56 million funding deal with OLX, a unit of tech giant Naspers. Carousell now has over 400 employees globally.
With the increasing staff costs, Carousell may need fresh funds sooner. The startup used $22 million of net cash flows for operations in 2018. It had $55.4 million in cash as at end-2018, suggesting a runway of about two years if the burn rate is unchanged.
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However, the startup remains to focus on being more productive and focus on what they can do for users. It emphasizes, that the startup will not get obsessed with the target to be a unicorn startup.
