Ritesh Agarwal | Pixr8 News

OYO elevates India & South Asia CEO Aditya Ghosh to Board of Directors

2Dec By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

OYO elevates India & South Asia CEO Aditya Ghosh to Board of Directors

Indian Hospitality firm OYO has elevated Aditya Ghosh, currently chief executive officer (India & South Asia) for the hotels and homes business, as a member of its board of directors. Rohit Kapoor, currently CEO of the new real estate businesses of the company, has been appointed as CEO (India & South Asia) for OYO Hotels & Homes, it added. Ghosh will join OYO Hotels & Homes founder & Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal, Baja Corporation founder & CEO Betsy Atkins and other industry experts like Munish Varma, Bejul Somaia and Mohit Bhatnagar, among others, on the company’s board, OYO Hotels & Homes said in a statement. In his role on the board, Ghosh will focus on five key areas namely, safety and security, customer experience, corporate governance, revenue manage...

8Oct By NitishNo Comments

FUNDING

OYO to Raise $1.5 bn Funding; for Expansion in US

Indian online hotel booking startup OYO Hotels and Homes set to raise $1.5 billion (nearly Rs 10,650 crore), from its founder, Softbank and other investors. The funding will use to expand for expansion in the US and strengthening its vacation rentals business in Europe. Softbank, has invested nearly $1 billion in OYO, through its Vision Fund and owns roughly 45 percent stake in it. The latest round of funding will be a part of Series-F funding round. OYO Hotels and Homes Founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal, through RA Hospitality Holdings, will infuse approximately $700 million as primary capital in the company. The balance $800 million will be supplemented by other existing investors, according to the company statement. A significant part of the funds will be diverted towards co...

OYO founder buy back shares worth $2 bn from early investors

20Jul By PriyankaNo Comments

BUSINESS

OYO founder buy back shares worth $2 bn from early investors

Hospitality firm OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal has signed a deal to buy back shares worth $2 billion (nearly Rs 13,770 crore) from early investors through his Cayman islands-registered entity, RA Hospitality Holdings. Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia India, OYO's early supporters, are selling part of their holdings in order to help the founder increase his stake while remaining invested significantly in the company's long-term mission, OYO said in a statement. "Company's founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal, through RA Hospitality Holdings (Cayman), has signed $2 billion primary and secondary management investment round, supported by global institutional banks and his financial partners," it added. According to Pixr8 sources, after the entire process is completed, Agarwal's stake in...

OYO Expects to Double Down on Growth in its Home Market

24Dec By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

OYO Expects to Double Down on Growth in its Home Market

OYO Hotels & Homes is “well-capitalised” and will be doubling down on growth in its home market of India. From the ongoing funding round, it plans to invest a fifth, or $200 million, in Asia’s third-largest economy. The SoftBank-backed company, which is in the process of raising $1 billion (Rs 7,000 crore) from a clutch of investors, doesn’t have any plan to raise further capital. “Today, we are committing to invest $200 million in India, with the focus on building strong capabilities that will help us further improve the quality of customer experience in India. We will cross leverage this in other markets as well,” he said. The communique suggests a shift in OYO’s strategy from focusing on profitability — last fiscal year it had cut losses by a third to pushing gro...

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...

The Five Most Inspiring Young Indian Entrepreneurs You Must Know About

27Aug By Gauri SinghNo Comments

INSPIRATIONAL

The Five Most Inspiring Young Indian Entrepreneurs You Must Know About

In the last few years, India has been witnessing a huge growth in the number of startups and thus, the birth of entrepreneurs in the country has also risen. With this, our country has got such an amazing number of talented and hard-working entrepreneurs that have helped India to reach a different level of success. All the business spaces including technology, telecommunication, digital payment, edutech, hospitality among others have been seeing a good amount of expansion across various cities in India. The new-age entrepreneurs have been successful in proving themselves through their box thinking, leadership qualities, and execution styles. Here, we will talk about some of the most inspiring and hard-working young entrepreneurs of India who are changing the game for their generation ...

Softbank Backed OYO To Enter China With All The Support

21Jun By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

Softbank Backed OYO To Enter China With All The Support

The Gurugram-based online hospitality company OYO is now officially entering the Chinese market. OYO is a Softbank backed firm and China is its third international destination after Malaysia and Nepal. The investor of OYO that is Softbank is showing high hopes and support in favour of the hospitality company. SoftBank Group’s chairman and chief executive Masayoshi Son addressed OYO Hotels as the ‘next generation hotel company using the internet service’. He is also determined to bolster up OYO hotels in China through a joint venture.” “I would really like to introduce this (OYO Hotels) company to all of you. The founder (Ritesh Agarwal), as of today, is only 23 years old. He founded the company when he was only 19 years old. Only four years have passed but it is growing exponentially,”...

Oyo Launched Its Operation in Nepal, Target to Acquire 100 Properties in This Year

24May By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Oyo Launched Its Operation in Nepal, Target to Acquire 100 Properties in This Year

Budget hotel platform Oyo has forayed into Nepal with a target of on-boarding 100 properties by the end of this year. The room aggregator, which opened its first property here, is also looking to roll out its Townhouse brand in the Himalayan nation, which of late is witnessing a tourist influx after a back-breaking earthquake in 2015. According to official statistics, of the 174,803 tourists who visited Nepal in 2016, most were from India. The entry into Nepal comes on the heels of its foray in Malaysia. The plan is to set up 100 Oyo hotels in Nepal this year. While its basic model is meant for the value- and cost-conscious traveller, Townhouse caters to those who do not mind paying slightly more for a better service. "Our core premise is right pricing and right location wit...

OYO Enters North-East, Offers 250 Rooms in Gangtok, Darjeeling

16May By AnkitaNo Comments

News

OYO Enters North-East, Offers 250 Rooms in Gangtok, Darjeeling

Online aggregator of branded hotels OYO Rooms has expanded its presence in the north-east by offering more than 250 standardised rooms in Gangtok and Darjeeling. "We have made significant investments to expand our presence in key tourist destinations in the north-east like Gangtok and Darjeeling. Our teams have worked very hard to deliver OYOs level of standardisation of guest experience in the hotels...," OYO Rooms Founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal said in a statement. "The hospitality sector is still underdeveloped in the north-east and we are certain that the introduction of OYOs standardised affordable stays will attract more tourists," he added. The company now offers more than 250 standardised rooms at rates as low as Rs 999 per night in Gangtok and Darjeeling for and premium rooms...

11Apr By NitishNo Comments

FUNDING

Ritesh Aggarwal Led Oyo Rooms Raised $100 million Funding

At a time when startups and companies facing economy jolt, Oyo rooms led by Ritesh Aggarwal has raised $100 million in its fifth round of funding. The investors, including Japan’s Softbank, and an international sovereign fund, a person with knowledge of the deal said. Other investors are Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greenoaks Capital, DSG Consumer Partners and Venture Nursery also participated. In the three years since it was founded, Oyo has emerged as the largest aggregator of hotel rooms in India. It has 65,000 rooms in 5,500 hotels across 177 cities. The company has already raised a total of $125.65 million in four rounds earlier. It recently acquired rival Zo Rooms, which made almost similar revenue, and was funded by Tiger Global. The business of hotel aggre...

OYO ROOMS HAD A TURNOVER OF INR 2.4 CRORES IN FY 2014-15

25Nov By No Comments

News

OYO ROOMS HAD A TURNOVER OF INR 2.4 CRORES IN FY 2014-15

Founded in 2012 Turnover in FY14-15 INR 2.4 CR Growth in FY14-15 400% If you have been around in your city anytime recently, more likely than not, you would have spotted an OYO Rooms board. OYO is a branded network of hotels and is one of the fastest growing startups in India. Founded by Ritesh Agarwal (aged 19 years then) in 2012, OYO claims to be India’s largest branded network of hotels spread across 152 cities with more than 3000 hotels. Oravel Stays Private Limited, which owns and operates OYO Rooms, reported a turnover of INR 2.4 Crores in FY 2014-15, growing from a turnover of INR 51 lacs in the previous fiscal. However, at the time, OYO appeared to have been present only in 10 cities with 200 hotels. They have seen a phase of exponent...