Traveloka is bouncing back

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Hello readers,

Vacations are serotonin boosters for most people. This means that for most of us in Singapore, we might have already depleted our supply of happy hormones, thanks to the country’s air travel restrictions that have been in place since April. So imagine how envious we are to hear that people in Vietnam and Thailand are already back to taking vacations – to the point that all their traveling has helped boost Indonesian online travel agency unicorn Traveloka’s numbers to achieve near profitability.

Today we look at:

• Traveloka flying high despite Covid-19
• The startup that raised the largest series A round in Bangladesh
• Other newsy highlights such as Foxconn’s scrapped plans and a new plant-based factory in Singapore

Traveloka’s flying high despite the turbulence

No one’s flying out yet but that’s not stopping Traveloka, which is poised to break even soon despite worldwide quarantine measures.

• Only at the Tech in Asia Conference: The travel startup’s president Henry Hendrawan has confirmed at our ongoing flagship event that Traveloka will be profitable soon and is set to break even by the end of 2020 or early 2021.
• The winning markets go to Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which are seeing strong recovery. For example, the total hotel transactions for Indonesia on Traveloka’s platform has reached about 70% to 75% of its pre-Covid-19 numbers.
• ICYMI: The travel startup has also recently raised US$250 million in a round led by an unnamed global financial institution.

Read more: Traveloka is nearly profitable despite Covid-19

Say hi to the largest series A round in Bangladesh

The newest and largest funding round that recently happened in Bangladesh belongs to business-to-business (B2B) commerce platform ShopUp’s US$22.5 million, co-led by Sequoia and Flourish Ventures.

• Launched in 2017, ShopUp offers B2B sourcing, last-mile logistics, digital credit, and business management solutions to help the 4.5 million neighborhood mom-and-pop shops in the country, which accounts for 98% of the retail sector.
• Enter with a bang: This funding round marks Sequoia Capital India’s and Flourish Ventures’ first investment in Bangladesh.
• ShopUp’s making moves Earlier this year, the company opened its office in Bengaluru, India. And recently, it also merged with Indian ecommerce platform Voonik.

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