Southeast Asian OTA Traveloka raises $250M as it sees “encouraging recovery” in key markets

Indonesia-based online travel agency Traveloka has raised $250 million in what it calls “a strong vote of confidence in [its] resilience and the viability of the regional travel industry.”

The company does not name the global financial institution it says led the round. It also says additional participation came from existing investors. 

Prior to this, Traveloka’s most recent fundraise was in April 2019, a private equity round of $420 million led by GIC with participation from EV Growth. 

“Without a doubt, Traveloka has been profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have experienced the lowest business rate that we have ever seen since our inception,” says Ferry Unardi, co-founder and CEO of Traveloka.

“However, we always believed that the company will prevail by rapidly adjusting our strategy, working with our industry and ecosystem partners, as well as continuing to innovate for our users, our ultimate focus.”

Traveloka says it will use the funding to build “a more robust and integrated Travel & Lifestyle portfolio in key markets as well as expanding its Financial Services solutions to better support ecosystem partners.”

In the past few months, the company has developed several initiatives related to COVID-19, including partnering with healthcare providers to enable users to schedule a COVID-19 test at the same time they are booking travel.

Traveloka has also created an open date “Buy Now Stay Later” voucher for hotels, online experiences and weekly live streams showing virtual tours of hotels and cities that are prioritizing hygiene standards. 

“I am happy to share that on the business front, we are seeing encouraging recovery across all of our key markets. Our business in Vietnam is approaching steady pre-COVID-19 levels and Thailand business is on its way to surpass 50%. Indonesia and Malaysia are still in the early stage, but they continue to demonstrate promising momentum with strong week-to-week improvement, especially in accommodation with the emergence of shorter-distance staycation behavior,” Unardi says.

“We acknowledge that the sector may go through further turbulence as it navigates new waves, but we feel we are prepared to take on the challenge and emerge on the right side of it.”