Indian budget hotel start-up Oyo has raised $1 billion (Rs 7,259 crore) from four existing investors led by Softbank Vision Fund, Business Standard reported on Tuesday.
With this, the hotel chain is estimated to be valued at $5 billion (Rs 36,325 crore) – a five-fold increase since September 2017 when the last round of funding took place. It is now the most valued hospitality company in the country ahead of Tata Group’s Indian Hotels Company, which owns the Taj brand of hotels, and EIH that owns the Oberoi hotels.
The fresh infusion of funds will help it increase its international footprint. The Gurugram-based company has expanded its presence to five countries last year, and is now present in India, China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Nepal, Mint reported.
“The company will direct a significant part of the funds from this round of financing, approximately $600 million [Rs 4,362 crore], into strengthening its position in China, which is still in the early stages of growth….” the company said in a statement.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ritesh Agarwal said the company would continue to explore newer businesses “while remaining focused on both organic and inorganic growth”.
The company was founded in May 2013 with a single hotel in Gurugram and now manages about 2,11,000 rooms. Of this 1,20,000 rooms are in India, followed by 87,000 in China. “We have an opportunity to grow bigger and become one of the top hospitality brands globally,” Agarwal said. “This capital gives us the fire power to do that. We are just getting started.”
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