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INA seals ‘good deal’ in OTA business with US$300m funding for Traveloka
Indonesia Investment Authority’s involvement in a US$300 million funding to Traveloka is believed to be a good deal as it will help the sovereign wealth fund, seeing as how the unicorn is a leading player in the online travel agent market, which is deemed highly lucrative.
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The Traveloka head office in Jakarta is shown in this undated photo. (Courtesy of Traveloka)
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ndonesia Investment Authority’s involvement in a US$300 million funding to Traveloka is believed to be a good deal as it will help the sovereign wealth fund, seeing as how the unicorn is a leading player in the online travel-agent market, which is deemed highly lucrative.
Traveloka announced on Thursday that it has garnered another funding round led by Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), followed by BlackRock, Allianz Global Investors, Orion Capital Asia and several other investors.
Roshan Raj Behera, the Southeast Asia partner of Indian management-consulting company Redseer, said that INA’s decision to invest in Traveloka did not pose any major risks for the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) entity, even though the recipient is not a state-owned enterprise (SOE).
“I do not foresee any major risks with this investment,” Behera told The Jakarta Post on Thursday evening.
“[Traveloka] has demonstrated strong execution capabilities by coming out stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. Competition is already very concentrated within a few players given the pain inflicted by the pandemic,” said Behera, explaining how this round of funding would allow Traveloka to tap into the resurging online travel agent (OTA) segment as well as further cementing its market position.
Concurring with Behera, Momentum Works CEO Jianggan Li said that Traveloka is one of the most reputed OTA players in Indonesia, one that is aspiring to create a superapp and that has branched into food delivery, health as well as financial services.
“Although some investors have been debating Traveloka’s worth, nobody else has built an inventory of hotels as deep and comprehensive in Indonesia as Traveloka. Moreover, we don't see larger internet platforms such as Shopee and GoTo being able to break into the travel space as well,” Li told the Post on Thursday.
