oyo | Pixr8 News

7Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

INDIA

In a first, Indian Government is Planning To Regularize Online Travel Booking

India government in a first its kind of move will setup certain guidelines for Online travel aggregators like Air B&B, Makemytrip, Yatra and Oyo to be recognised by the Tourism Ministry in order to operate, a senior official said. For the first time, the ministry has prepared a set of guidelines by which it will approve and classify online travel aggregators (OTAs) ensuring reliability of their services. The scheme for approval/re-approval of OTAs will be rolled out online by the end of this month and all applications and fee payment will have to be made on it, the ministry official said. "The scheme will set standards towards accreditation and add value to the dependability and reliability to the aggregators in the online space operating in the organised tourism sector," he a...

Singapore-based Grab in Advanced Talks to Invest $100 Million in OYO

3Dec By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

Singapore-based Grab in Advanced Talks to Invest $100 Million in OYO

Singapore ride-hailing company Grab is in advanced talks to invest $100 million (Rs 697.7 crore) in OYO Hotels & Homes as part of the Indian hospitality chain’s ongoing $1 billion funding round. Grab is expected to close the deal over the next few days, according to two people briefed on the matter. Grab and OYO, both of which count SoftBank as one of their primary investors, have identified Indonesia as a key market for growth. Grab, which has been going head-to-head with Indonesia’s ride-hailing and logistics startup Go-Jek, has stated its intention of entering sectors ranging from grocery delivery to healthcare, according to a report by Bloomberg. OYO announced the launch of its operations in Indonesia in October last year. At the time, the Ritesh Agarwal-led company starte...

Yet Again, OYO Forays into Another Nation

16Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

Yet Again, OYO Forays into Another Nation

OYO, the India-based budget hotel chain has been foraying into various countries since a long time. And yet again, the company has entered into another region that is in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). OYO has become one of the most reached hospitality chain in India and is growing its existence day by day in other countries as well. The company has stated that with over ten full-inventory, franchised and operated hotels and over 1100 rooms in three Emirates in Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah, the room rates in the market will start at 150 dirhams. “With over 170 countries committing to the World Expo 2020, the hospitality sector in the Middle East, and more specifically UAE, is poised to grow substantially and with our market learnings and expertise we are ready to tap this opportunity,” ...

After China, OYO launched its service in Japan

9Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

After China, OYO launched its service in Japan

The budget hospitality chain OYO has been expanding to various countries for a long time. After China, Australia and many other countries, the company is now foraying into Japan which is the world’s third-largest economy. The Gurugram-based hotel chain lately raised $800 million in its latest round of funding that was led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund, following which, the valuation of the company reached $5 billion. The move also comes less than a year after the hospitality company entered China in December last year, a geography that it has identified as a core market, alongside India. According to the sources, Japan could also be the company’s next major market, after India and China. The step to enter Japan has also been driven by the expected growth in the country’s hospitality s...

6Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

OYO Makes Room for Business Travellers

The budget hotel chain OYO is looking forward to expanding its Townhouse brand aggressively. The aim of the company is to take the number of OYO Townhouse hotels to 400-500 by next year, up from 45 at present. OYO ventured into the UK last month by launching Townhouse hotels in London, and will deepen the brand’s presence in the UK as well as in Indian cities such as Guwahati, Vijaywada, Lucknow, Surat, Nagpur and Pondicherry among others. “The growth will be deeper and sharper and Townhouse hotels will increase month-on-month. We are aggressively pushing this product. By 2019, Townhouse will expand to many more cities in India, and also grow aggressively in foreign markets,” said Ankit Tandon, COO, OYO Townhouse. “We expect the structure to continue in a similar way. We are open to b...

29Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Top 5 Funding of The Week (24th Sept – 29th Sept)

This week witnessed various funding rounds from a lot of well-known companies and also from well-known backers. Companies like Oyo, Shohoz etc raised funds for different purposes and secured valuable amount of funds. The largest amount of funds were raised by Indian ride-hailing firm Oyo after which the company's valuation has reached around $5 billion and thus, the company crossed a milestone. Here we have the summary of the top five funding activities of the week. 1. SHOHOZ Bangladesh-based ride-hailing and ticketing platform Shohoz has reportedly secured funds amounting to $15 million in pre-series B financing round. This funding round was led by Singapore’s Golden Gate Ventures. The other backers that participated in this round included Linear...

Indian Hotel Chain Oyo Raises $1 billion at $5 billion Valuation

25Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

Indian Hotel Chain Oyo Raises $1 billion at $5 billion Valuation

Indian hospitality chain Oyo Hotels which is soaring high with success these days has planned to secured funds amounting to $1 billion for the purpose of expansion into China and other global regions. This round is expected to be led by existing investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The existing investors have currently put in $800 million, with commitments for another $200 million. About $600 million of the total will be deployed into China where Oyo had forayed just 10 months back. “With this additional funding, we plan to rapidly scale our business in these countries, while continuing to invest further in technology and talent,” Agarwal stated. “We will also deploy fresh capital to take our unique model that enables small hotel ow...

OYO Launches Palette Resorts, Enters Upscale Hotels’ Category

31Aug By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

OYO Launches Palette Resorts, Enters Upscale Hotels’ Category

The pocket-friendly hospitality chain OYO Hotels has announced that it has entered into the upscale hotels' category, that starts with a range of resorts, christened as Palette Resorts. The company stated that It is organizing a range of resorts that will offer exclusively designed staycations. These will basically cater to those people who are in search of an intuitive experience at competitive prices. “OYO’s genesis lies in enabling value-driven, trustworthy experience for its guests while operating high-yielding successful businesses for its asset partners. With Palette by OYO, we are expanding our playfield to upscale resorts, while remaining committed to our core value proposition - location, quality, and price. These are hand-picked, premium accommodations that guarantee a memora...

OYO Rooms Launches its Membership Programme OYO Wizard

30Aug By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

OYO Rooms Launches its Membership Programme OYO Wizard

The budget hotel chain OYO has announced that they have launched a new membership programme known as the OYO Wizard. This programme is basically designed to recognize and reward frequent customers. With this move, OYO aims to deepen and strengthen customer relationships by offering highly-rated and curated hotels to loyal customers at the best price. The company also stated that Wizard is a benefit membership programme which comes with unique benefits that include guaranteed discounts, upgrades and other benefits. Maninder Gulati, chief of strategy, OYO, stated, “OYO Wizard will enable us to take the OYO experience a step further by making it possible for us to engage with customers in a more personal and meaningful manner. We believe that this initiative is an important milestone in o...

12Aug By NitishNo Comments

ACQUISITION

OYO Acquires Wedding Platform Weddingz

India's one of the leading hotel booking platform OYO acquires online wedding marketplace platform Weddingz in a cash-and-stock deal. Though the amount of the deal has not been disclosed. This is the third acquisition of Softbank backed company in this year. The Gurgaon based company acquired 100% stake in the wedding platform. The platform was backed by early-stage venture capital firms Singularity Ventures and Sixth Sense Ventures “We look at supply, whether it’s hotels, homes or banquets and are always interested in companies that have it and operate in a very similar manner to OYO,” said Maninder Gulati, chief strategy officer at OYO. Founded in 2015 by Sandeep Lodha, Weddingz is India's leading wedding planning platform. After the acquisition, OYO will not change the company ...

OYO Eyeing Funds from Tencent, May Raise the Valuation to $2 Billion

26Jul By Gauri SinghNo Comments

FUNDING

OYO Eyeing Funds from Tencent, May Raise the Valuation to $2 Billion

Tencent, one of the leading internet players of China is eyeing to lead a fresh funding round and back hotel chain OYO with $300-500 million. According to the reports, this particular funding round will likely value the company at $2 billion which is almost double the valuation of $850 million from SoftBank's Vision Fund. "The company is engaged with Tencent, and a term sheet is likely There’s a bunch of other investors also in talks, but those are preliminary at the moment. The fundraise is largely to grow the China business," a person familiar to the matter said. Apart from Tencent, the Gurugram-based hotel chain has also talked with other Chinese companies and a few financial investors to participate in the funding round. If the funding is confirmed, it will be the first-ever fu...

After China and Malaysia, OYO Starts Off with Operations in London

16Jul By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

After China and Malaysia, OYO Starts Off with Operations in London

The online hospitality service provider OYO seems to be on an expansion spree. Soon after spreading its footsteps in countries like China, the company has landed in London and already begin with the operations. The Softbank-backed firm has been offering bookings in Sussex Gardens, Paddington, London. According to the reports, an OYO Townhouse property in London was seen recently. After foodtech unicorn Zomato, it is said to be the second Indian startup to have expanded to London. However, there is no option to book a hotel at the previously mentioned property through the app or website, it is being guessed that the pricing would be in the range of Rs 6,500 to Rs 8,000. Currently, OYO claims to operate 8,500 hotels and 70,000 rooms over 230 cities in India. ...