Indonesian online travel unicorn Traveloka has raised $420 million in a funding round led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and existing investors, a person familiar with the matter said.
The funding will support the Indonesian firm’s ambition to become the region’s “travel super app” with its ongoing expansion into tours and activities as well as new areas such as food and lifestyle services.
Traveloka and GIC did not return a request for comment.
Traveloka had last disclosed raising $350 million from US online travel major Expedia in 2017, along with another $150 million from other investors including East Ventures, Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital and China’s JD.com.
The Information had in October last year reported that Traveloka was in talks to raise around $400 million in a round led by GIC. The investment, it added, was likely to double the travel startup’s valuation to $4.1 billion. DEALSTREETASIA was unable to ascertain Traveloka’s latest valuation.
According to a Skift report, the Indonesian firm has rolled out a new discovery platform in the domestic market that offers everything from discounted restaurant vouchers to recommendations on where to eat, supplemented by user reviews. Apart from food-related offerings, it also plans to roll out wellness services, including beauty and spa services.
Meanwhile, its new tours and activities offering pits it against regional competitors such as Hong Kong-based Klook, Taiwan’s Alibaba-backed KKDay and nearer home, Triip in Vietnam. Its most formidable competitor will be Klook, which offers online booking services for local tours and activities and closed a $425-million extended Series D round this week after bagging funding from SoftBank Vision Fund.
Traveloka offers its services in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore, beyond its home market. In February this year, it ventured outside Southeast Asia by launching its services in Australia. It now offers hotel packages, flight ticket reservation, airport transportation, and activities and tour packages in the country via its app and websites.
It also discreetly acquired three smaller rival firms — Philippines-based TravelBook, PegiPegi in Indonesia, and MyTour in Vietnam — from Japanese company Recruit Holdings for about $66.8 million last year. It is learnt to be on the prowl for more acquisitions, especially in newer areas that it is venturing into.
GIC has previously backed other Indonesian unicorns including GOJEK and Bukalapak. We recently reported about its latest investment in Vietnamese fintech startup VNPay. Established in 1981, the Singaporean wealth fund manages assets worth over $100 billion in more than 40 countries across the world.
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