Charting Traveloka’s expansion into other verticals

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Hello readers,

If you’re a longtime reader and have followed my house-hunting efforts over time, I’m happy to say that I’m now a proud (and broke) homeowner who’ll be moving into my new place in a couple weeks’ time.

The whole process felt like it took forever. We viewed 10 or so different places, met with many interior designers, and browsed countless furniture listings before settling on our final plans. The point is that for something as important as this, you can’t afford to settle – and my fiancée and I picked up tons of new skills and experiences along the way as well.

Similarly (or not), in today’s premium article, Traveloka could’ve sunk like a rock if it hadn’t committed to keeping an open mind and exploring other services after Covid-19 kneecapped the travel industry. We take a visual tour of the firm’s diversification efforts over the past couple of years.

In another example of “trying new things,” Tech in Asia will be releasing an NFT art piece this week to commemorate Grab’s landmark public listing. The artwork, which takes a (slightly) tongue-in-cheek look at Grab’s history, will be put up for auction, and most of the initial sale proceeds will go toward environmental causes. For more on this NFT project and how you can participate, head here.

Today, we look at:

• How Traveloka has reinvented itself over the past few years
• The pre-seed round of a Singaporean co-living startup
• Other newsy highlights such as Uber Eats’ exit from Hong Kong and Bukalapak’s healthy figures

Premium summary

The definition of insanity

Image credit: Timmy Loen

“Move fast and break things” is a phrase that’s become ingrained in startup culture ever since Mark Zuckerberg dropped it way back when. Even after Facebook (now Meta) changed its internal motto to “Move fast with stable infrastructure,” no one can forget the OG version – it’s way more catchy, after all.

Traveloka certainly moved fast to diversify its business in the wake of Covid-19’s vicious assault on the travel industry. Today’s premium piece looks at how the Indonesian giant pivoted and switched things up.

• Adapting to the times: To remain relevant amid the health crisis, Traveloka has diversified its business, launching new services such as food delivery and skills workshops that can be accessed from home.

• It’s alive! By October last year, Traveloka president Henry Hendrawan said that the company’s transaction numbers in Vietnam and Thailand had reached nearly 100% of its pre-Covid-19 levels.

Mi casa es su casa