Editing Sea Limited (section)

=== History ===
Sea Limited was founded in 2009, initially as Garena, by Singaporean entrepreneur Forrest Li.<ref>Tech company Garena raises US$550m, rebrands as Sea | The Straits Times</ref> The company was specialising in video game development, publishment and distribution. Through its platform, Garena+, it distributed major game titles across Taiwan and Southeast Asia including League of Legends<ref>Garena Server: What Is It? | League Of Legends Official Amino (aminoapps.com)</ref>, Heroes of Newerth<ref>Heroes of Newerth and its team acquired by Garena Online | GamesIndustry.biz</ref>, FIFA Online 4 and Call of Duty: Mobile<ref>[https://www.bing.com/search?q=garena+launched+call+of+duty&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&ghc=1&lq=0&pq=garena+launched+call+of+duty&sc=6-28&sk=&cvid=D77BBF2E0C9E483E8F66F02C3392D68F&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ghpl= Garena Launches Call of Duty Mobile | Back2Gaming]</ref>. By 2014 it was valued at $1bn and was named the biggest internet company in Singapore.<ref>Valued at $1bn, Garena is Singapore’s biggest internet company (techinasia.com)</ref> In 2017 the company acquired $550 million through a round of funding and rebranded itself as Sea Limited, maintaining the Garena digital entertainment branch, and additionally introducing the e-commerce and online financial services platforms, Shopee and SeaMoney. <ref>Tech company Garena raises US$550m, rebrands as Sea | The Straits Times</ref> The same year, it went public starting at $15 per share<ref>Where Will Sea Limited Be in 5 Years? | The Motley Fool</ref>,aiming to raise $1 bn <ref>Southeast Asia gaming and e-commerce firm Sea ends first day on NYSE up 8% | TechCrunch</ref>. In 2020, Sea Limited acquired Singaporean football club Home United FC and rebranded it as Lion City Sailors FC<ref>Sea acquires SG-based football club Home United, rebrands it to Lion City Sailors FC | Marketing-Interactive</ref>, which made its debut in the upcoming Singaporean Premier League (SPL) season. In 2021, Sea Limited secured Southeast Asia's largest ever funding, raising $6bn by selling $3.5bn of equity and $2.5bn of convertible bond.<ref>Singapore's Sea Ltd secures $6 billion in mega fund raising | Reuters</ref> In 2021, the Chinese company Tencent that owned 21.3% of Sea Limited's shares, announced a divesting of almost 15 million class A shares to raise a $3bn fund for other investments and activities.<ref>Tencent divests 2.6% of equity interest in Sea Limited - Tencent 腾讯</ref> In 2023, a variety of factors including macroeconomic instability, increased interest rates and failed investments such as FTX, led Sea Limited to disband its investment arm.<ref>Singapore tech giant Sea disbands investment arm: Sources | The Straits Times</ref>