Circles Life’s secret weapon to get in the black

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Hello readers,

Google dropped the mic this year with its Year In Search recap. After 30 minutes, here’s a fun fact I learned: searches for “cranberry juice” hit an all-time high in 2020. Likely due to TikTokerr Doggface’s viral video of him glugging down the drink while skateboarding that has gotten 72.9 million views today.

Slightly similar to trendsetting Doggface is Circles Life, a Singapore-based telco that has gone viral for pulling publicity stunts like vandalizing advertisements from a fictional competitor. While Circles Life’s outlandish moves have caught attention, its P/L statement remains in the red as its ballooning losses in the last two years show. But the company has a secret weapon to get it in the black.

Today we look at:

• Circles Life’s not-so-secret cash cow to turn its losses around
• Who’s who in Indonesia’s ecommerce industry
• Other newsy highlights such as Indonesia’s invite for a SpaceX rocket launch site, and Shopback and RedDoorz user data allegedly put up for sale

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Circles Life rings out the old and ringss in the new

Circles Life entered Singapore with a bang as the country’s first mobile virtual network operator four years ago. Since then, many copycats like MyRepublic, Zero1, Gomo by Singtel,and Starhub’s Giga have sprung up. To stay ahead, Circles Life expanded its non-telco offering but was met with mixed success.

• Losses on losses: While Circle Life’s revenue increased 30% between 2018 to 2019, its losses also grew eightfold to US$50 million as it continued its expansion. Its telco business is also seeing higher user acquisition costs due to stiff competition.
• Call it a day: The company’s non-telco products, such as events platform Discover that was launched in November 2018, haven’t caught much traction. It has also put its fintech plans on hold, according to sources.
• Dialing up a cash cow: Circles X could be the company’s ticket to success. This software helped Circles Life speed up its entry into Australia and Taiwan, and is now being sold to interested telecom companies. XL Axiata, a telco operator owned by Indonesia’s Axiata Group, is already a client.

Read more: Circles Life bets big on secret cash cow as other efforts fall short

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