Travelio’s two-pronged strategy books it $4m series A funding

A view from Indonesia’s Banda Islands / Photo credit: javarman / 123RF

With its green rainforests, golden beaches, and azure seas – and, of course, some superb satay – tourism is big business in Indonesia. It isn’t too surprising that the industry accounts for almost a tenth of the archipelago’s GDP.

The “Emerald of the Equator” welcomed just over 14 million foreign tourists to its shores in 2017 – 22 percent more than it did a year previously. The number would likely have been even higher if Bali’s Agung volcano hadn’t erupted towards the end of the year, leading to multiple travel restrictions on the ever-popular island.

Jakarta wants 20 million foreign visitors coming into the country each year by the end of 2019. It hasn’t overlooked the rapidly growing domestic market, either. In the same time frame, it’s expecting Indonesian residents to make 275 million internal leisure trips annually. The government has also set a target of opening 100,000 new homestays as a way of accommodating more tourists by the end of 2020.

Travelio, a portal for short-term rentals, is riding the crest of this wave, today announcing US$4 million in series A funding. The round was led by Vynn Capital, the Kuala Lumpur-based VC firm launched earlier this year by former Gobi Partners vice president Victor Chua.

Also participating were Insignia Ventures Partners – founded by former Sequoia Capital partner Tan Yinglan – as well as US firm Fenox Venture Capital and Indonesia’s own IndoGen Capital and Stellar Capital.

The Travelio team / Photo credit: Travelio

Travelio co-founder and chief strategy officer Christina Suriadjaja told Tech in Asia that most of the funding will be used for tech development and “capturing a larger market share of inventories locally.”

The site currently hosts around 4,000 listings, all of which are whole-unit rentals including apartments, houses, and villas. Options for inner-city pads, mountain hideaways, and seaside resort stays can all be found in Travelio’s inventory.

Travelio’s current demand consists of “70 percent domestic and 30 percent inbound travelers,” said Suriadjaja, who was featured in Forbes’ “Asia 30 under 30” list of young entrepreneurs last year.

The startup didn’t share any financial performance numbers with Tech in Asia, though Suriadjaja said it is cash flow positive.

Property, too

Notably, tourism is not the only booming sector in Indonesia that Travelio wants to benefit from.

Despite fairly wild fluctuations in average property prices in recent years, Indonesia’s real estate industry has steadily grown in economic importance. The sector’s contribution to GDP grew by 12 percent year-on-year in 2015, and was worth US$24.9 billion to the country.

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