Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), BlackRock, Allianz Global Investors, Orion Capital Asia, and other leading global financial institutions have signed an agreement to provide a financing facility of $300 million to Traveloka, an Indonesia-based travel and lifestyle platform.

Traveloka said in a statement on Thursday the financing round attracted significant interest from a number of high-quality long-term capital providers, resulting in an oversubscribed transaction.

The financing will support digital ecosystem growth in the travel sector and will allow the Company to grow further; while cementing its status as one of the region’s technology leaders, it added.

“We are very pleased to be able to add INA, BlackRock, Allianz Global Investors, Orion and others to our existing group of committed investors who believe in our vision to fulfil the travel and lifestyle aspirations of our users,

“As our business continues to accelerate while the industry emerges from the pandemic, this financing allows us an opportunity to further strengthen our balance sheet and enable us to continue to focus on our core business while also building for the future,” said Ferry Unardi, Chief Exeucutive Officer and Co-Founder of Traveloka.

Traveloka is Southeast Asia’s travel and lifestyle platform that provides users access to discover and purchase a wide range of travel, local services, and financial services products.

Its comprehensive product portfolio includes transport booking services such as flight tickets, bus, trains, car rental, airport transfer, as well as access to the largest accommodation inventory in Southeast Asia, including hotels, apartments, guest houses, homestays, resorts, and villas, making the firm a booking platform with the widest selection of accommodation and packages.

Traveloka is also a key player in the local services category (currently specific to certain markets), offering reservations for a wide range of local attractions, activities as well as wellness and beauty clinics.

It also offers financing, payment, and insurance products to help Southeast Asian consumers fulfill their lifestyle aspirations.

Traveloka also provides 24/7 customer service in local languages as well as more than 30 different local payment methods.

Its app has been downloaded more than 100 million times, making it the most popular travel and lifestyle platform in the Southeast Asian region.

“The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation. Customer behavior changes coupled with innovative technological services mean digitization will help drive economic recovery,” said INA Chief Executive Officer Ridha Wirakusumah.

“Supporting the travel sector with their unparalleled convenience and access, online travel agencies (OTAs) have further transformed the industry landscape during the Covid-19 pandemic,

“For e.g., OTAs have seen their share of Indonesia’s gross tourism booking increase from 24 percent pre- pandemic to 33 percent in 2021 with an expectation to reach 36 percent by 2024,” he added.

According to him, joining Traveloka’s financing round in collaboration with BlackRock, Allianz Global Investors, and Orion and other leading global financial institutions, aligns with INA’s mission to create prosperity for Indonesia in the long term, by laying down the foundation for a sustainable digital ecosystem, including digital infrastructure, digital services and digital platforms — which will go a long way to drive economic recovery and growth.

“We believe that Traveloka is Indonesia’s national and regional champion and is also a key catalyst toward digitalization of travel and accommodation in Indonesia and the region,

“We believe this joint investment can enable Traveloka to deepen its leadership and create value for the entire travel ecosystem,” he said

Meanwhile, BlackRock Asian Private Credit Head Celia Yan said Traveloka is a strong leader in the online travel space in Southeast Asia, a region which has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

“We are delighted to be the lead investor for this financing transaction as part of our dedicated private credit strategy to support Traveloka’s business growth,” she added.

Allianz Global Investors Asia Private Credit Head Sumit Bhandari also said the firm is excited to be backing an execution-focused company like Traveloka, which has a demonstrated stellar track record and a very long runway ahead of them.

“We were very impressed with the way Traveloka navigated the crisis and are always keen to support such businesses and management which are resilient and built for the long term,” he added.

Orion Capital Asia Managing Partner Ming Eng also said the fund is delighted to partner with Traveloka in its journey to deliver top-class travel and lifestyle offerings in Southeast Asia to meet the aspirations of the tech savvy population.

“We look forward to continuing to support Traveloka’s growth in the future,” she added.

Indonesia’s Traveloka nears $200M funding after SPAC talks – report