Jakarta. Indonesia Investment Authority, or INA, the country's sovereign wealth fund, has joined global investment companies including BlackRock, Allianz Global Investors, and Orion Capital Asia in Jakarta-based online travel agency Traveloka's latest $300 million financing round, the fund announced Thursday. 

Ridha Wirakusumah, INA's chief executive officer, said in a statement that the move reflected the fund's aim to help develop Indonesia's digital ecosystem. 

"We are pleased about Traveloka's financing round," Ridha said, "as it aligns with INA's mission to create prosperity for Indonesia in the long term by laying down the foundation for a sustainable digital ecosystem.  

" 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," Ridha said. 

He said online travel agencies like Traveloka showed promising growth. The online businesses made up about 33 percent of Indonesia's travel booking market in 2021, up from 24 percent pre-pandemic, and are expected to grow to 36 percent in 2024, Ridha said. 

For BlackRock, Traveloka's presence in Southeast Asia entices one of the world's largest investment companies. 

"Traveloka is a strong leader in the online travel space in Southeast Asia, a region that has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world," Celia Yan, head of Asian private credit at BlackRock.

Sumit  Bhandari, the head of  Asia private credit at  Allianz Global Investors, said the investment firm was impressed with how Traveloka navigated the Covid-19 pandemic that obliterated the domestic and international travel market. 

"We are 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," Bhandari said.

Ming Eng, the managing partner at Orion Capital Asia, said the company believed in Traveloka's ability to deliver its services to Southeast Asia's growing tech-savvy population. "We look forward to continuing to support Traveloka's growth in the future," she said. 

Ferry Unardi, Traveloka's CEO and co-founder, said the company business would accelerate as the region recovered from the pandemic. "This financing allows us an opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet further and enable us to continue to focus on our core business while also building for the future," he said.