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IN FOCUS

• Carousell bets big on AI alongside recommerce
• Is J&T's growth getting more expensive?
• OpenAI gets the go-ahead for its latest model

Hello reader,

In a "significantly stronger position" - that is how chief strategy officer Shing Tai Leung describes Carousell's current standing to Tech in Asia for this edition's featured story.

The classifieds and recommerce platform, which is based in Singapore, closed 2025 with positive full-year EBITDA on revenue that grew 18% year on year to US$141 million.

Part of how Carousell did it was by focusing on its bread and butter: recommerce.

Its revenue from the segment increased 40% year on year. This marks a significant change from 2024, when revenue from the business line fell 6% year on year.

In with the old and the new, though, as the firm's expanded offline footprint also aided its cause. With the company's physical stores, users can now trade items in and have them resold through its online platform.

Carousell says it had 29 such stores at the end of 2025 and is evaluating opportunities to increase this year.

Check out the full story for more data, as well as some insights on why the company sees AI as a key growth pillar and where it stands on a possible IPO.

If you're interested in the financials of other firms, my colleague Duc has recently come up with another update on Tech in Asia's startup earnings tracker.

Don't worry - we keep an eye on the numbers so you don't have to.

Miguel Cordon, journalist

TOP STORIES

1️⃣ Secondhand sales surge pushes Carousell to EBITDA profit in 2025

AI is here, there, and everywhere - and it seems Carousell is no exception. The classifieds giant is, in fact, positioning the tech as a primary growth pillar.

Carousell uses AI tools to automate its listing process and offer pricing suggestions for users. It also taps into the tech to speed up product development and sharpen its scam detection capabilities.

Looking ahead, the company is considering using AI at "every stage of the buying and selling journey," from product discovery to pricing. The firm says it has a healthy balance sheet to invest in such efforts.

2️⃣ Financial tracker for SEA startups: Latest on Carousell, Anchanto

Apart from Carousell, this update shares the latest figures from Anchanto. The ecommerce and logistics SaaS firm recorded revenue of US$15.2 million and net losses of US$1.9 million last year.

It was also EBITDA-positive in last year's fourth quarter. We took a deep dive into the numbers in our article on Anchanto's 2025 numbers last week.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

J&T's race to the bottom in SEA logistics sparks backlash

The logistics service provider recently said its global parcel volume increased 24.2% year on year in the second quarter of 2026 to almost 9.18 billion parcels. Of that amount, Southeast Asia accounted for some 2.76 billion parcels, up 63.2% year on year.

My colleague Jofie's story from May 2025 shows that while impressive, the firm's previous increases in parcel volume and market share came with aggressive price cuts.

Jimmi Krismiardhi, vice chairman of the Digital Economy Logistics Association of Indonesia, even told him that J&T had been "selling at a loss, causing competitors to collapse."

While the company did record a full-year increase in its 2025 net profit, which rose 112.3% to US$425 million that year, the oil price surges we've seen in 2026 may mean its parcel delivery growth came with a hefty price tag. When we have the numbers for this year, so will you.

TRENDING NEWS

1️⃣ OpenAI gets US clearance for GPT-5.6: source

The US Department of Commerce reportedly gave the approval after additional testing and compliance with a voluntary pre-release framework. Anthropic recently cleared a similar regulatory hurdle for its Mythos and Fable models.

2️⃣ Line Man Wongnai targets 3,000 more EV drivers by 2026

The Thai on-demand platform is offering partner drivers a rent-to-own model for electric vehicles. In comparison, Grab reports having over 10,000 EVs on its platform in the country.

3️⃣ Anthropic to roll out Claude Cowork beta on mobile, web

The update allows users to run multi-step tasks without access to desktops. It also adds support for scheduled remote tasks that can run even when devices are offline.

4️⃣ Shopee expands fast grocery delivery in Indonesia

The ecommerce giant launched a new service called "Belanja Instant 1 Jam Tiba." This guarantees one-hour deliveries of daily essentials - like fresh produce, household items, and over-the-counter medicine - from its retail partners.

5️⃣ Only 6% of Singapore workers use AI daily: Salesforce

The percentage falls below the 11% global average for desk workers, according to a YouGov survey. It also found that 29% of respondents from the city-state identified as AI skeptics, compared to 37% globally.

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PRESS PEEKS

The following press releases were published as they were received, without any editing from the Tech in Asia team. You, too, can publish your own press release on our site by simply filling out this form. Our team will get back to you by the next business day.

• Kisti - Kisti Wants to Become Asia's Default "Pay Later" Button, Starting in Bangladesh: Kisti is preparing to launch zero-interest Buy Now, Pay Later in Bangladesh in 2026, with a vision to expand across Asia.

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