Traveloka is Reportedly Secured Fresh Funding, Valuation Drops at $2,75 Billion

Traveloka is reportedly secured fresh funding. As quoted from Bloomberg, the company is in the final negotiation with some investors, including Siam Commercial Bank and FWD Group - also the previous investors, GIC and East Ventures.

The agreement is subject to change and secured funding is around $250 million (3.6 trillion Rupiah). DealStreetAsia mentioned a bigger number at $100 million (around 1.4 trillion Rupiah).

Along the process, Traveloka's valuation is estimated to drop at $2.75 billion (nearly 40 trillion Rupiah). The down round was taken due to the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on the company's business.

Last year, some sources reported Traveloka's valuation to reach $4.5 billion (nearly 65 trillion Rupiah). Still, they targeted to raise new funds worth of $500 million (7.2 trillion Rupiah).

All businesses in the OTA landscape experienced a great storm due to the pandemic. In addition, Expedia (a Traveloka investor), in Q1 2020 experienced a decrease in total orders of up to 39%. Traveloka's affiliated company in the budget hotel sector, Airy, closed its business due to unbearable business operations.

Traveloka alone has performed layoffs for its employees, although the number is not clearly stated.

Aside from Traveloka, some Indonesian unicorn startups are looking for fresh funding. Gojek is finalizing its Series F funding, while Tokopedia is reportedly in the middle of discussing a follow-on round with Temasek and Google.

Traveloka was founded in 2012 by Ferry Unardi, Albert Zhang, and Derianto Kusuma. The latest one has "exited" since November 2018 and drop the CTO position. Traveloka services are already available in several countries in Southeast Asia and Australia.

Adapting Business

Investors' only hope is the recovery of the post-pandemic travel business. In fact, new normal is indeed being pursued in many areas, but the fear of the new wave of Covid-19 has caused many people to discourage travel - in addition to various destinations, they are yet to open due to restrictions.

The company alone does not remain silent. They try to clean up. With its assets, Traveloka launches online activity through Xperience. They also try to optimize fintech services through several products, including Paylater, which is managed by its own financial company.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian