Traveloka: Fundraising, New Vertical Optimization, to IPO Plans

Slowly but surely the Indonesian digital giant is starting to develop a strategy exit through public offerings, Traveloka is no exception. This was conveyed directly by Co-Founder & CEO Ferry Unardi in a joint interview Bloomberg. He said the realistic plan for the IPO would be in the next 2-3 years.

To achieve this, the company's main PR is to ensure the company's financial flows are positive. He also said that the current business condition is still stable and in the appropriate growth path. It was also emphasized that they already have a clear direction to reap profits in the near future.

Possible IPO in two places

There's been talk about plans go public with several parties, including IDX, said Unardi. However, there is a possibility that the company will choose first listing where the rest of the world's digital companies are located, in the United States.

This is a common practice, as Alibaba did, starting in the United States a few years ago, continuing on the Hong Kong exchange a few days ago.

Previously in separate opportunity Traveloka President Henry Hendrawan also conveyed about the IPO. Chances are the company will dual listings, in Indonesia and in other countries. The strategy is carried out to accelerate its realization by optimizing digital financial services in the application ecosystem, to accelerate profit creation.

Not only Traveloka, a similar plan is also being promoted by unicorn others, for example Tokopedia and Gojek. Tokopedia itself is currently raising new funding 21 trillion Rupiah to prepare the company's profitability ahead of the IPO. On various occasions, CEO William Tanuwijaya has mentioned the company's desire to conduct a pre-IPO first.

There are many analyzes circulating about digital startups that are flocking to initiate IPOs, one of which is suspected to be an issue overvaluation from other digital companies, such as WeWork and Uber, which have significantly reduced value (and investor confidence). Moreover, there are projections of a global economic slowdown in the near future which could have an impact on the current business model.

Still doing fundraising

Same as unicro other local, conveyed that at this time Traveloka is still moving forward with conservative investment fund. For information, in this mechanism investors provide funding with returns that can be in the form of stocks, bonds, or cash – a more real form of which is convertible notes – This tends to be minimal risk, so many startups are adopted.

It will continue to pursue growth by exploring new verticals that support the OTA business, namely lifestyle and financial technology. Several initiatives have been rolled out, including the PayLater feature in collaboration with Danamas as well as Bank Rakyat Indonesia – BRI is reportedly currently in the works scoping stage to take part in becoming a Traveloka investor. For their lifestyle, they have also started optimizing Xperience to support the recreational activities of its users.

To boost growth, the company will continue to raise funds. However, Unardi emphasized that they are looking for investors who can also be used as strategic partners to develop the two new verticals above. In the middle of last year it was reported that Traveloka was looking for funds up to 7 trillion Rupiah.

Traveloka has been supported by a number of investors, including Expedia, JD.com, GIC, to Sequoia Capital.