Co-founder of Cube Asia, Cube Asia

Simon Torring

Co-founder of Cube Asia

Defining Social Commerce in Southeast Asia

Cube Asia

We offer granular market data and insights for online retail in Southeast Asia, helping brands and retail companies drive profitable growth. 

Why the Cube?
3 dimensions of granularity to help you get deep into the 1) geographies, 2) categories, and 3) types of data and insights you need for your business.

The Cube is a big-data machine that is continuously listening to public data sources and primary research, and triangulating across thousands of data points using probabilistic modeling to produce an accurate and granular picture of Southeast Asia’s online retail landscape.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>Before the era of daily flash sales and gamified shopping, there was 2015.</li><li>That was the year Shopee entered the market and set off a shift that reshaped Southeast Asia’s (SEA) digital economy.</li><li>This moment was bigger than Shopee – it signaled the beginning of a sustained acceleration in SEA’s e-commerce landscape.</li></ul>

Before the era of daily flash sales and gamified shopping, there was 2015.That was the year Shopee entered the market and set off a shift that reshaped Southeast Asia’s (SEA) digital economy.This moment was bigger than Shopee – it signaled the beginning of a sustained acceleration in SEA’s e-commerce landscape.

The road to $650bn: What to expect from Southeast Asia e-commerce towards 2035

🌏 Asian Private Markets Research and Insights 💡, pvtIQ

Ben Lim

🌏 Asian Private Markets Research and Insights 💡

Private Markets Research and Data, Reimagined

pvtIQ

pvtIQ leverages Smartkarma’s technology and distribution to deliver high-quality research and data on Asian private markets.

Private Capital Markets

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<strong>Ecosystem-Driven Strategy:</strong> As the digital banking subsidiary of Sea Limited, MariBank leverages a high-efficiency customer acquisition model by embedding its financial services directly into the Shopee ecosystem.</li>
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<strong>Rapid Market Traction:</strong> Since its soft-launch in March 2023, the bank has demonstrated exponential growth, scaling its deposit base from S$2 million (2022) to S$1.5 billion (2024), adapting to market needs and adhering to regulatory progression requirements.</li>
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<strong>Product Differentiation via Simplicity:</strong> In contrast to peers like GXS Bank that utilize loyalty programmes and Trust Bank that gamifies rewards, MariBank Singapore (“MariBank”) captures market share through radical transparency, simplicity and speed.</li>
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Ecosystem-Driven Strategy: As the digital banking subsidiary of Sea Limited, MariBank leverages a high-efficiency customer acquisition model by embedding its financial services directly into the Shopee ecosystem.

Rapid Market Traction: Since its soft-launch in March 2023, the bank has demonstrated exponential growth, scaling its deposit base from S$2 million (2022) to S$1.5 billion (2024), adapting to market needs and adhering to regulatory progression requirements.

Product Differentiation via Simplicity: In contrast to peers like GXS Bank that utilize loyalty programmes and Trust Bank that gamifies rewards, MariBank Singapore (“MariBank”) captures market share through radical transparency, simplicity and speed.


MariBank Singapore: Leveraging Integration and Growth (Initiation)

Equity Bottom-Up

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<p>Shopee - Sea’s largest business unit and Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce platform - has reported negative EBITDA for most of the 8 or so years since its launch. </p>
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<p>Investors now however appear to be looking for earnings growth. In 7 of the last 9 quarterly earnings reports, investors have rewarded the company every time it has reported earnings growth (its share price has gone up in the day after the release), and penalized when it has not.</p>
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<p>Based on our analysis (and subject to the disclaimer included below), we expect Shopee’s GMV and Revenue to improve in Q4 2023 (as compared to the previous quarter) along with its EBITDA, although earnings will likely remain in negative territory.</p>
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Shopee - Sea’s largest business unit and Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce platform - has reported negative EBITDA for most of the 8 or so years since its launch. 


Investors now however appear to be looking for earnings growth. In 7 of the last 9 quarterly earnings reports, investors have rewarded the company every time it has reported earnings growth (its share price has gone up in the day after the release), and penalized when it has not.


Based on our analysis (and subject to the disclaimer included below), we expect Shopee’s GMV and Revenue to improve in Q4 2023 (as compared to the previous quarter) along with its EBITDA, although earnings will likely remain in negative territory.



Sea Will Release Its Q4 2023 Earnings Report Soon

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Cross Asset Strategy

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<li>The ASEAN overweight rests on Indonesia and non-benchmark Singapore/Vietnam, offset by Malaysia’s structural underweight. Recent flows show pressure on Indonesia and Malaysia, with Singapore and Thailand benefiting.</li>
<li>Indonesian Financials dominate ASEAN exposure but are losing momentum; fresh inflows support Singapore Discretionary and Technology, plus Thailand Communication Services and Staples.</li>
<li>Stock trends highlight fading Indonesian banks, while new highs come from ICTSI, Grab, GoTo, and Singtel, signalling a potential shift in leadership.</li>
</ul>


The ASEAN overweight rests on Indonesia and non-benchmark Singapore/Vietnam, offset by Malaysia’s structural underweight. Recent flows show pressure on Indonesia and Malaysia, with Singapore and Thailand benefiting.
Indonesian Financials dominate ASEAN exposure but are losing momentum; fresh inflows support Singapore Discretionary and Technology, plus Thailand Communication Services and Staples.
Stock trends highlight fading Indonesian banks, while new highs come from ICTSI, Grab, GoTo, and Singtel, signalling a potential shift in leadership.


ASEAN Rotation: Indonesia Weakens, Singapore Gains, Thailand Stabilises

Smartkarma Research Team, Smartkarma

Smartkarma Research

Smartkarma Research Team

Smartkarma

Smartkarma unites the fragmented investment industry, connecting institutional investors, independent research providers, and corporates within a single network.

Research Reinvented

<p>Smartkarma hosted Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/simon-torring" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:47333" rel="noopener">Simon Torring</a> in an exclusive Webinar on 15 October '25. Simon shared key updates about Southeast Asia's e-commerce industry, including newly released H1 market data for the region's leading e-commerce platforms, from the firm's proprietary Tradewinds data offering. </p>
<p>Catch the full discussion below: </p>
<div style="display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZGFdQFlxZvE?si=OgOI8xgl-8tXU_lV" width="560" height="315" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
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<p>For our next Webinar we are glad to welcome Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/simon-torring" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:47333" rel="noopener">Simon Torring.</a></p>
<p>In the upcoming webinar, Simon will share key updates about Southeast Asia's e-commerce industry, including newly released H1 market data for the region's leading e-commerce platforms, from the firm's proprietary Tradewinds data offering. <br>The session will also touch on key industry developments such as platform competition, promotional intensity, and Shopee's expansion in Brazil, along with an e-commerce industry forecast.</p>
<p>The webinar will include a live Q&amp;A session.</p>
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<h3>The Webinar will be hosted on Wednesday, 15 October 2025, 20:00 SGT.</h3>
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<h2><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/home/webinar-registration-form-feb2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Register for the Webinar here</a></h2>
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<h3>About <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/companies/cube-asia/research" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cube</a>
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<p>Cube (formerly Cube Asia) offers granular market data and insights for online retail in Southeast Asia, helping brands and retail companies drive profitable growth. <br><strong>Why The Cube?</strong><br>The Cube offers 3 dimensions of granularity to help you get deep into the 1) geographies, 2) categories, and 3) types of data and insights you need for your business. <br>They operate a big-data machine that is continuously listening to public data sources and primary research, triangulating across thousands of data points using probabilistic modeling to produce an accurate and granular picture of Southeast Asia’s online retail landscape</p>

Smartkarma hosted Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, Simon Torring in an exclusive Webinar on 15 October '25. Simon shared key updates about Southeast Asia's e-commerce industry, including newly released H1 market data for the region's leading e-commerce platforms, from the firm's proprietary Tradewinds data offering. 
Catch the full discussion below: 


For our next Webinar we are glad to welcome Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, Simon Torring.
In the upcoming webinar, Simon will share key updates about Southeast Asia's e-commerce industry, including newly released H1 market data for the region's leading e-commerce platforms, from the firm's proprietary Tradewinds data offering.  The session will also touch on key industry developments such as platform competition, promotional intensity, and Shopee's expansion in Brazil, along with an e-commerce industry forecast.
The webinar will include a live Q&amp;A session.






The Webinar will be hosted on Wednesday, 15 October 2025, 20:00 SGT.












Register for the Webinar here












About Cube

Cube (formerly Cube Asia) offers granular market data and insights for online retail in Southeast Asia, helping brands and retail companies drive profitable growth.  Why The Cube? The Cube offers 3 dimensions of granularity to help you get deep into the 1) geographies, 2) categories, and 3) types of data and insights you need for your business.  They operate a big-data machine that is continuously listening to public data sources and primary research, triangulating across thousands of data points using probabilistic modeling to produce an accurate and granular picture of Southeast Asia’s online retail landscape

Smartkarma Webinar | Southeast Asia E-Commerce:  H1 Data, Key Developments & Forecast with Cube

Singapore

Sea Limited is a Singapore-based global technology company founded in 2009. It operates three core businesses: digital entertainment through Garena, e-commerce via Shopee, and digital financial services under Monee. The company is headquartered in Singapore.

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Sea Ltd (SE US)

The road to $650bn: What to expect from Southeast Asia e-commerce towards 2035

Before the era of daily flash sales and gamified shopping, there was 2015. That was the year Shopee entered the market and set off a shift that...

Simon Torring

MariBank Singapore: Leveraging Integration and Growth (Initiation)

Ecosystem-Driven Strategy: As the digital banking subsidiary of Sea Limited, MariBank leverages a high-efficiency customer acquisition model by...

pvtIQ

Sea Will Release Its Q4 2023 Earnings Report Soon

Shopee - Sea’s largest business unit and Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce platform - has reported negative EBITDA for most of the 8 or so since...

Simon Torring

ASEAN Rotation: Indonesia Weakens, Singapore Gains, Thailand Stabilises

ASEAN positioning shifts as Indonesia loses ground and Malaysia stays weak. Singapore and Thailand attract inflows, while new leaders like ICTSI...

Steven Holden

Smartkarma Webinar | Southeast Asia E-Commerce: H1 Data, Key Developments & Forecast with Cube

For our next Webinar we are glad to welcome Cube's Co-Founder and Smartkarma Insight Provider, Simon Torring. In the upcoming webinar, Simon will...

Smartkarma Research

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