Expedia invests $350M in travel company Traveloka, picks minority stake

Global online travel company, Expedia, has invested $350 million in Indonesia based online travel platform, Traveloka. Along with the investment, Expedia has also picked up a minority stake in in the Indonesian travel portal and states that both the companies are deepening the cooperation on global hotel supply. Taveloka has also raised $150 million over the course of its last two funding rounds by investors like East Ventures, Hillhouse Capital Group, JD.com and Sequoia Capital bringing the total investment to $500 million. According to a several industry analyst reports the startup has joined the region’s unicorn club as the company is now valued around $2 billion. “Traveloka is the clear online travel leader in Indonesia, and is expanding aggressively throughout Southeast Asia. Our partnership will benefit from each side’s expertise and local knowledge, and accelerate our mutual growth,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Expedia.

“We are incredibly excited to continue to expand our presence in Asia, to learn from the talented Traveloka team and to unlock a more diverse offering of travel choices for Traveloka and Expedia travelers around the globe.”

The startup claims to have established partnerships with more than 100 domestic and international airlines, serving more than 200,000 routes worldwide. It also claims to have the largest direct accommodation inventory, varying from hotels, apartments, guest houses, homestays, to villas and resorts in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. “Partnering with the world’s leading online travel company will allow us to focus on our continued growth in the online travel space to meet our goal of providing travelers the best travel options and highest quality booking experience,” said Ferry Unardi, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Traveloka.

“The expanded partnership gives Traveloka travelers access to a unique and diverse set of international accommodations and we are looking forward to working with Expedia to expand our services in Asia and beyond.”

With this investment and the agreement with Expedia, the startup is not only looking at cooperating on hotel supply but also leveraging the opportunity to expand its hotel business globally. Though it is a mobile-first business, Expedia will give the online travel portal a push to move into accommodations in the Southeast Asian region, as it is currently focused more towards air travel bookings and management.