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<ul><li>OYO, which already has 50 hotels in the US, has invested $300 million to expand its presence. </li><li>It will soon enter New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.</li><li>Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, who is one of the biggest backers of the startup, has said that OYO will be able to achieve its aim of being the world’s largest hotel network.</li></ul>Indian hospitality unicorn OYO is investing as much as $300 million to expand its footprint in the United States. The $5 billion company is already the largest network of hotels and rooms in South Asia, and the second largest in China. Now, it is looking to enter big markets like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It already has 50 hotels across 15 states in the US, with 350 employees. It is currently present in cities like Dallas, Houston, Augusta, Atlanta and Miami. “We are convinced there is unlimited potential for rapid growth in our newest home market, the United States,” said <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>, Founder &amp; CEO of OYO. With its expansion in the US, OYO claims it has already created 1000 jobs. The six-year old startup has been eyeing international growth for over two years. OYO expanded its business in China in 2017, and it has paid off. China is now one of its biggest markets. These aggressive growth plans support OYO’s ambition to become the world’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">biggest</a> hotel chain. It is <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/hospitality-unicorn-oyo-may-raise-1-bn-to-turn-decacorn/">reportedly</a> in talks to raise $1 billion to reach a valuation of $10 billion. And in this quest for global expansion, the company has the backing of big investors like the Japanese investment bank Softbank as well as Airbnb, which used to be a competitor in the hospitality until April 2019 when the Silicon Valley star decided to invest in OYO. Now, OYO is looking to spread its wings in the US which is one of the biggest markets for Airbnb. In a general shareholders meeting, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/oyo-may-become-largest-hotel-network-in-the-world-softbank-s-masayoshi-son-119062000123_1.html">said</a> that OYO will soon become the world’s largest hotel network. It was Softbank's investment that led OYO into the Indian unicorn club with a $5 billion valuation in September 2018, a huge jump from the $900 million valuation it had until then. In April 2019, it announced a partnership with Japan-based SoftBank Corp and the SoftBank Vision fund expansion in the country. It runs housing rental service called OYO Life in Japan currently. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/home-renting-giant-airbnb-invests-in-indian-unicorn-oyo-rooms/articleshow/68670636.cms">Airbnb picks up a stake in its Indian rival Oyo Rooms</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-eyeing-acquisition-of-freshmenu/articleshow/68112104.cms">Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">A 6-year-old Indian startup wants to be world’s biggest hotel chain</a>

OYO is making a march to the top US cities with $300 million and blessings from Softbank and Airbnb

<ul><li>OYO founder <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword> was recently booked in a cheating case by a hotel owner in Bengaluru. </li><li>But there have been multiple such incidents across the country. </li><li>In the US too, OYO has been facing similar issues.</li></ul>OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, the Indian unicorn that has gone global seems to be going through a bad time. Founded by Ritesh Agarwal, OYO is on its way to hit its ambitious target of being the world’s largest hotel chain. It helps that they are already South Asia’s largest hotel chain by the number of rooms. OYO also recently launched OYO Partner Engagement Network (OPEN) through which it set up four regional Partner Advisory Councils which “provides a platform to discuss and determine micro and macro issues driving the future of hospitality in India”. Yet the past few months have been turbulent. From multiple FIRs to an uprising from hotel owners, OYO is now dealing with multiple cases. Cheating case against Agarwal and others Recently, a Bengaluru <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/cheating-case-against-oyo-founder-ritesh-agarwal-6-others/articleshow/71905131.cms">hotelier</a> filed a cheating case against Agarwal and six others claiming that the OYO hasn’t paid him his dues. According to the complaint, the hotelier has claimed that OYO was supposed to pay him ₹7 lakh a month for room bookings but failed to do so since May 2019. "Our lawyers are looking into the matter and will be taking strong legal action as these claims are incorrect and defamatory in nature. OYO Hotels &amp; Homes will initiate appropriate criminal proceedings against the Bengaluru owner who is sensationalising a civil dispute to attract attention. On studying a similar matter where an FIR was wrongfully filed in September, the honourable Karnataka High Court recently stayed the adverse actions via an injunction in Bengaluru. We, therefore, have strong reasons to repose our faith in the justice system," said a statement from OYO. OYO also claims to have an annual retention as high as 99.5% across the chain in India &amp; South Asia. Incidents at OYO Hotels Recently, a national level shooter was found dead in an OYO hotel reportedly due to electrocution. On the other hand, an employee in a Gurugram-based OYO hotel was also accused of <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/electrocution-case-oyo-says-it-is-cooperating-with-police-authorities/articleshow/71607725.cms">raping</a> a guest. In both cases, OYO has said that it is working with the authorities and helping with the investigation. Hotel owners’ rising rage Hotel partners have been raising their concerns about OYO for quite some time now, with some even calling it the <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/business/hotel-operators-who-partnered-with-oyo-call-it-biggest-online-fraud-demand-criminal-probe-against-softbank-backed-startup-7462021.html">‘biggest online fraud’.</a> Multiple protests have also been organised by hoteliers against OYO across the country. Most of the protests have been about clearance of dues. Another point <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/as-softbank-oyo-booms-over-10000-hotels-cry-foul-and-check-out/story/383337.html">raised by hotel owners</a> has been that while OYO charges 20% franchise fee on room revenues, it ultimately takes more money through different sources that aren’t disclosed initially. Trouble in America too OYO, after having had a great run in China, also expanded to the US. It has even taken over a Hooters hotel in Las Vegas and rebranded it to be an OYO hotel. US-based media outlet <a href="https://skift.com/2019/10/24/budget-chain-oyo-can-be-a-nightmare-for-u-s-hotel-operators-despite-its-hype/">Skift</a> has reported that several hotel owners complained that OYO’s partner management system didn’t work properly along with non payment of dues. CCI investigation MakeMyTrip and Oyo’s commercial agreement is being investigated by the Competition Commission of India. The alleged dominance that they would enjoy is now under scanner. And prima facie, MakeMyTrip is identified as ‘dominant’ in the online travel market while OYO holds the same position in the hotels market. The joint effect of their partnership could alter the way the market operates. “OYO has been prima facie found to be a significant player in the ‘market for franchising services for budget hotels in India,” said the report. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/why-makemytrip-and-oyo-are-in-trouble-with-the-cci/articleshow/71818051.cms">MakeMyTrip and Oyo are in trouble with the CCI, opening up a gray area for business partnerships in India</a>

Dues, death and an investigation — all that went wrong with OYO hotels in the last 6 months

<ul><li>OYO Hotel &amp; <keyword id="8016838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="casino-in-las-vegas">Casino in Las Vegas</keyword> will have 657 rooms. </li><li>The property was earlier a <keyword id="8016837" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="hooters-casino-hotel">Hooters Casino Hotel</keyword>. </li><li>Earlier in June, OYO has announced its decision to invest $300 million in the US.</li></ul>Indian hospitality unicorn OYO has opened a 35,000 square-foot casino in Las Vegas. Called OYO Hotel &amp; Casino, the property will have 657 rooms across nineteen floors. Interestingly, the hotel was earlier the Hooters Casino Hotel. “Earlier in June, we announced our plan to invest $300 million in the US. With our newest hotel in Las Vegas, we are excited to cater to a completely different audience segment and are certain that this will be the perfect start to OYO’s journey in Las Vegas,” said <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>, Founder &amp; CEO, <keyword id="4964826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-hotels">OYO Hotels</keyword> &amp; Homes. OYO partnered with Highgate which will take over the management of the hotel. Highgate is a premier hospitality investment and management company. Meanwhile, the casino will be managed by Paragon Gaming. The $5 billion company is already the largest network of hotels and rooms in South Asia, and is the second largest in China. Now, it is looking to enter big markets like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It already has 50 hotels across 15 states in the US, with 350 employees. It is currently present in cities like Dallas, Houston, Augusta, Atlanta and Miami.

OYO opens a 35,000 sft casino in Las Vegas by rebranding a Hooters hotel

<ul><li>In just four months since its formal entry in the US, Oyo said that it has 100 <keyword id="6368036" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="hotels">hotels</keyword> in the market. </li><li>Oyo is present in over 60 cities including Dallas, Las Vegas, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta and Miami. </li><li>It is already the largest hotel chain in China in terms of rooms.</li></ul>Oyo Hotels &amp; Homes said that it now has 100 hotels in the US. The company entered the US market in June 2019, and scaled its operations in just over four months. It is present in over 60 cities in the US including Dallas, Las Vegas, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta and Miami. It is adding one building per day, the company says. It had earlier said that it will be investing $300 million into the market. “The US is a key home-market of us given the huge potential. While we continue to transform buildings across the country, we want to stay true to our philosophy that everyone, every day should be #LivingTheGoodLife. We do this by offering good quality ‘value-chic’ accommodations, with great ratings at unique price points,” said <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>, founder, Oyo. The $5 billion company already has the largest network of hotels and rooms in South Asia. It is also the largest hotel chain in China in terms of rooms. Recently, OYO had opened a 35,000 square-foot casino in Las Vegas called OYO Hotel &amp; Casin. The property, which was earlier a Hooters hotel, has 657 rooms across nineteen floors.

Oyo now has 100 hotels in the US, is adding one building a day

<ul><li><keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> has announced a Joint Venture with <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">Softbank</keyword> Corp and Softbank Vision fund to launch <keyword id="7496028" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oyo-Hotels-Japan">Oyo Hotels Japan</keyword>. </li><li>Softbank has been an investor in OYO since 2018.</li><li>OYO had recently announced its funding from Airbnb as well.</li></ul>Indian hospitality <keyword id="152045" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unicorn">unicorn</keyword> OYO has announced its partnership with Japan-based SoftBank Corp and the SoftBank Vision fund to expand its business in Japan. The new venture called Oyo Hotels Japan will be led by Prasun Chaudhary, one of OYO's founding members. OYO had recently announced its housing rental service in Japan called Oyo Life. The company’s official statement said that their business in Japan would “empower small and independent asset owners in Japan with its rapid transformation capabilities and integrated hotel / ryokan management system powered by advanced AI technology.” Softbank has been a loyal supporter of OYO. The Japanese investment firm has been one of OYO's investors since 2015. It was Softbank's investment that led OYO into the Indian unicorn club with a $5 billion valuation in September 2018, a huge jump from the $900 million valuation it had until then. OYO which had expanded its business in China in 2017 had already made China one of its biggest markets. Now, with its entry into Japan it aims to get closer to its dream of being the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">world’s biggest hotel chain.</a> “OYO is already the most preferred brand in the budget to mid-segment hospitality space in several global markets, where our operational expertise in revenue management, and distribution, through both offline and online channels, has helped us gain significant momentum,” said <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>, Group CEO &amp; Founder, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes. OYO had recently announced a strategic investment from global giant Airbnb. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/home-renting-giant-airbnb-invests-in-indian-unicorn-oyo-rooms/articleshow/68670636.cms">Airbnb picks up a stake in its Indian rival Oyo Rooms</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-eyeing-acquisition-of-freshmenu/articleshow/68112104.cms">Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">A 6-year-old Indian startup wants to be world’s biggest hotel chain</a>

OYO partners with Softbank to create a joint venture for its Japan business

<ul class="summary-list"><li>SoftBank-backed hotel chain startup Oyo is set to cut about 5,000 people, or 17% of its workforce, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.</li><li>In an interview with Bloomberg published Wednesday, Oyo's CEO Ritesh Agarwal said the move would leave the firm with around 25,000 staff worldwide - down from around 30,000 as of January.</li><li>Agarwal admitted the coronavirus outbreak has "hit us" in China, describing it as a "tough time for our hotel partners." </li><li>Oyo's downsizing comes as SoftBank's portfolio of startups faces growing pressure to prioritize profitability.</li><li>Business Insider has approached Oyo for comment.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>SoftBank-backed hotel chain startup Oyo is set to axe thousands of jobs as the coronavirus outbreak begins to bite.In <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-04/softbank-backed-oyo-to-cut-about-5-000-jobs-in-broad-overhaul">an interview with Bloomberg published Wednesday</a>, Oyo's CEO Ritesh Agarwal said the move would leave the firm with around 25.000 staff worldwide - down from around 30,000 as of January.Citing anonymous sources, the publication added that staff based in China, the US and India will be fired, including roughly 3,000 China-based employees. Agarwal admitted the coronavirus outbreak has "hit us" in China, describing it as a "tough time for our hotel partners." Oyo's downsizing comes as SoftBank's portfolio of startups faces growing pressure to prioritize profitability over expansion - especially in the wake of WeWork's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-ipo-fiasco-adam-neumann-explained-events-timeline-2019-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">calamitous, ultimately canceled IPO</a> last year.Masayoshi Son's SoftBank was an early backer of Oyo and has continued to invest heavily in the company.In its latest funding round - a SoftBank-led Series F in October 2019 - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oyo-raises-15-billion-from-ceo-and-other-backers-at-10-billion-valuation-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">Oyo raised $1.5 billion</a>, with $700 million of that coming from Agarwal himself.Business Insider has approached Oyo for comment.

SoftBank-backed hotel startup Oyo will cut 5,000 staff as coronavirus bites

<ul><li>Oyo has received an undisclosed amount of funding from <keyword id="719382" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airbnb">Airbnb</keyword> in a series E round. </li><li>The strategic investment will see both Oyo and Airbnb collaborate on various projects. </li><li><keyword id="2550719" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Rooms">Oyo Rooms</keyword> had also announced its home rental service in Japan on Monday.</li></ul>US-based home renting startup AirBnB has reportedly picked up a stake in Oyo Rooms. In a series E funding whose details are undisclosed, AirBnB has invested in the Indian hospitality unicorn. According to earlier <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/airbnb-in-talks-to-invest-100-200-million-in-oyo-report/story/329283.html">reports</a>, AirBnB had been looking at investing anywhere between $100 million-$200 million in the Indian startup. “As the 6th largest hotel chain operator in the world, we at, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, are committed to offering our guests and travelers around the world, great quality living spaces. We are happy to have Airbnb as our partner in this vision,” said Maninder Gulati, Global Chief Strategy Officer at OYO Hotels &amp; Homes. Gulati further said that Airbnb’s strong global footprints and access to local communities will open up new opportunities for OYO Hotels &amp; Homes to strengthen and grow while staying true to our core value proposition. According to sources, the funding development from Airbnb comes as a strategic <keyword id="7485728" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Investment-in-OYO">investment in Oyo</keyword>. Both Oyo and Airbnb are looking at opportunities to collaborate on a range of projects, including making OYO accommodations available on the Airbnb platform. “India has approximately 410 million millennials, that’s more than the entire population of the US. This group increasingly makes up for the dominant segment of consumers and is looking for new and authentic travel experiences. We are working towards achieving 1 billion Airbnb users in the next 10 years and India will play an important role in helping us achieve that goal,” Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of Airbnb had told Business Insider on March 13. Oyo Rooms has been growing at a fast rate, expanding its business territories beyond India. Having successfully expanded in China and several South East Asian markets, on Monday, Oyo also announced that it’s expanding in Japan with Oyo Life – an apartment rental service. An official statement from the company said that the company has already received over 11,000+ pre-registrations and has touched an occupancy of over 114% at the time of launch itself. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">A 6-year-old Indian startup wants to be world’s biggest hotel chain</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-airbnb-may-defer-its-ipo-plan/articleshow/68392360.cms">'We have not decided if we will go public in 2019': Airbnb cofounder hints at IPO timing</a>

Airbnb picks up a stake in its Indian rival Oyo Rooms

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">OyoOyo founder Ritesh Agarwal.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Indian hotel marketplace Oyo has expanded into the UK. It aims to partner with budget British hotels to standardising their decor and service.</li><li>Oyo offers a marketplace of mostly budget hotel rooms via its app, hoping to create a level of standardisation of service and decor at low-cost hotels.</li><li>The company was founded by 24-year-old Indian entrepreneur Ritesh Agarwal, and has raised $450 million to date from investors such as SoftBank's Vision Fund, Lightspeed, and Sequoia.</li></ul>Indian startup Oyo has launched in the UK to try and raise the standards of budget hotels across the country.The UK is Oyo's first market outside of Asia, where it has racked up a network of more than 200,000 rooms across India, Malaysia, China, and Nepal.The startup has appointed Coco di Mama cofounder, Jeremy Warner, to run its British business, and plans to invest £40 million ($53 million) in the UK.The startup will become available in 10 cities over the next 18 months, and already has several hotels in its launch city of London.Oyo is like a mix of Airbnb and WeWork. The premise in the UK is that Oyo takes unloved budget hotels, brings them into its franchise under the Oyo brand, and then renovates them to a particular standard.The startup promises to take the management load off independent hotel owners, and to boost their bookings. It takes a cut from room bookings, and benefits from adding to its huge network of rooms around the world.The upside for hotel customers is that they can travel to a particular city and expect a consistent type of decor and service from an Oyo hotel.The startup already has a physical presence in London and is targeting a mix of locations in the city. It has one "townhouse" in Paddington and another in Ilford, an unglamorous location in east London.Customers can book rooms through the Oyo app, or through third-party aggregators like Booking.com.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">OyoAn Oyo Townhouse in Paddington.</div></div></div>Oyo has generated major hype in its home market, not least because of its youthful founder, 24-year-old Ritesh Agarwal, who bases himself Gurgaon, on the outskirts of Delhi, India.While at university, Agarwal won $100,000 from the Thiel Fellowship, a grant for budding entrepreneurs that requires them to drop out of college. He has raised $450 million to date from top-tier backers including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Greenoak, and SoftBank's Vision Fund.The company is <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Companies/8XRYZKfISaOL0KDql7SVxJ/Oyo-in-talks-to-raise-up-to-800-million-in-fresh-funding.html">rumoured by the Indian media</a> to be in the process of raising a further $800 million to $1 billion, at a valuation of $4 billion, although Agarwal was tight-lipped about this in a call with Business Insider."We continually get inbounds," he said. "There is no specific view on capital raising right now."He added that Oyo wasn't a particularly capital-intensive business and had a "healthy balance sheet," though he didn't provide further financial detail.Agarwal bills Oyo as a way to rejuvenate struggling local hotels and, by extension, their neighbourhoods. The messaging <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/success-story-of-wework-2017-9/#wework-founders-adam-neumann-and-miguel-mckelvey-met-where-else-at-the-office-1">has echoes of WeWork founder Adam Neumann</a>, another SoftBank entrepreneur who regularly draws on the importance of "community."Agarwal said: "If you think about London, every [area] had its own neighbourhood hotel, a butcher's... these are all slowly disappearing in the face of big businesses showing up. Oyo's goal is to try and keep the originality of the neighbourhood hotel while upgrading them with great quality design and customer service."At the same time," he added. "[Hotel] owners see significantly more return when franchised or leased by us. That's the principle we've taken." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-xs-max-xr-event-wrap-up-2018-9">Apple's entire iPhone XS event in 8 minutes</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

This SoftBank-funded startup was founded by a 24-year-old to glam up budget hotels, and it's just launched in the UK

<ul><li>The 6-year old hospitality unicorn has become China’s largest hotel chain. </li><li>Earlier in June, <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> had also announced its expansion plan in the US. </li><li>The company is on a steady growth phase to become the world’s largest hotel chain.</li></ul>The Indian hospitality unicorn OYO has achieved the numero uno position in one of the world’s toughest markets – China. It has become the largest hospitality chain in China, within two years of its entry into the market. The company is the process of investing $100 million out of the $600 million it had earlier committed to China. It is present in over 337 cities and has 500,000 rooms in the country. OYO already hired 10,000 people and created for 200,000 jobs indirectly, in the market. The six-year-old startup has much higher ambitions in sight – to become the world’s largest hotel chain, as conveyed by its CEO Aditya Ghosh earlier this <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/former-indigo-chief-is-aiming-to-make-the-6-year-old-oyo-the-worlds-largest-hotel-chain/articleshow/67536612.cms">year</a>. OYO has over 175,000 rooms in India. It is also adding 60,000 rooms every month, globally. Earlier this month, OYO said that it will invest $300 million to expand its footprint in the United States – into cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It already has 50 hotels across 15 states in the US. It is currently present in cities like Dallas, Houston, Augusta, Atlanta and Miami. In April 2019, it partnered with SoftBank Corp and SoftBank Vision fund for expansion in Japan. It also runs a housing rental service called OYO Life in the country. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-airbnb-and-softbank-hotel-rooms-in-top-cities-like-new-york-los-angeles-and-san-francisco/articleshow/69873552.cms">OYO is making a march to the top US cities with $300 million and blessings from Softbank and Airbnb</a>

Indian unicorn OYO has conquered China and is now the country’s largest hotel chain

Twenty one year old <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword> is on cloud nine. His company, <keyword id="2550719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Rooms">OYO Rooms</keyword> has recently raised Rs 150 crore funding from its investors, Lightspeed, Sequoia, Greenoaks Capital and DSG Consumer Partners. 
	 
	“This would be one of our largest capital raises for us,” said Agarwal. 
	 Founded in 2013, OYO Rooms revolves around the concept of making budget hotel experience customer friendly. This segment has remained fragmented and disorganized for long time. “When I was 18, I travelled across the country and stayed at more than 100 <keyword id="507551" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="budget-hotels">budget hotels</keyword>. This journey led me to realize how difficult it was to get a pleasant and reliable consumer experience in these hotels. So, in a quest to make affordable ‘real’, I started OYO Rooms. Our vision is to offer the ‘OYO Rooms experience’ to every business, leisure and pilgrim traveler across 100 cities through a network of 10,000 hotels,” he averred. 
	 He further added, “We act like the Ola (<keyword id="6362049" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola-Cabs">Ola cabs</keyword>) for hotels where we go to fragmented segment of private hotels. We tie up with them and brand them as OYO Rooms. Thus, these budget hotels can deliver the customers a much better experience. We call ourselves a branded budget hotel website.” 
	 
	Explaining the business model of the company, Agarwal noted that company facilitates technology enabled hotels in the country. “We have built a very high quality, compatibility playbook wherein by entering information about the hotel, the owner’s background and other such details, we can check our compatibility with these hotels. This process helps us select only those hotels that we feel are best for our consumers in terms of location, customer experience, infrastructure among others,” he stated. 
	 
	The company has a robust technology system in place. OYO Rooms have an hotel manager application which allows the company to know about a customer’s check-ins and check outs of the hotel. “So, we have an app through which I can know what time did a customer check-in and what time he ordered for room service. Besides, we also ensure that the entire process of check-outs is simplified as our technology enables us to send the invoice directly to the customer’s mobile. All this has helped us increase the occupancy rate of the hotel to nearly 85%,” elaborated Agarwal. 
	 
	The company also carries out audits of its properties on regular basis through another application to ensure that the standard of customer experience is maintained. The application enables the firm to see the condition of a room in real time. And if there are more than three negative customer feedbacks about a hotel, the firm shuts it down temporarily. 
	 
	Talking about the challenges in this business, Agarwal recalled that the biggest difficulty was getting hotels onboard. “We realized that the key things that hotel owners really care about are – occupancy, pilferage and customer experience. So, once they understand how OYO caters to these needs, they come onboard,” he said. 
	 
	Image: Official website of the company

India’s Air BnB just raised Rs 150cr and
there’s more to come!

OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing chain of hotels, homes, managed living, and workspaces, is enabling micro-entrepreneurship opportunities for thousands of real estate owners and helping them build a successful business. The company’s innovative business model turns around assets that were either lying unused or operating at standards that are not at par with the industry, into spaces that generate high yields, hence, turning many of these asset owners into crorepatis. Some of these asset owners who have seen tremendous success with their properties after joining hands with OYO belong to Gujarat. As Deepak Shah, an asset owner from Ahmedabad, says, “It has been three years since I have been managing this hotel with family along with OYO’s support. The biggest challenge for me earlier was to approach clients and market my hotel. With OYO and its support, marketing my property and getting clients to take notice was no longer a worry. Our property is at a convenient location that is in close proximity to different corporate offices making it a preferred place to stay. We have an in-house multi-cuisine restaurant and also have the facility of outdoor seating in the terrace area which can be booked for different occasions. Owing to great marketing, quality accommodation and customer service that we have been able to provide with OYO’s help has resulted in a 90% occupancy on average. It has been a very fruitful association with OYO and we aim to continue with this in the years to come.” OYO is continuously working with 500+ strong asset owner community in Gujarat to build successful and sustainable businesses. In line with this, OYO plans to expand and hire 2000+ employees across multiple functions, including Business Development, Operations, Service, Sales and Enterprise Partnerships, in the next one year in Gujarat to empower asset owners and enable them to ensure a great hospitality experience for guests, hence, increasing yields. Further to this, OYO also announced its partnership with Mountania Developers, to open the doors to its first upmarket business hotel in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. How can you be benefited after becoming an asset owner with OYO? Twofold value proposition OYO offers asset owners a two-fold value proposition. First, OYO provides partners with the necessary capital to bring a building up to OYO's standards. Moreover, it also leverages available data to predict RevPAR, internal rate of return and ROI. With these details, OYO can indicate yield guarantee to the underlying asset owner. End-to-End Support OYO invests in the assets alongside asset owners to offer end-to-end solutions and support. Right from offering free design consulting to upgrading and transforming hotel infrastructure, to easing access to finance, transparent payment protocols, multiple touch-points, marketing excellence, tech innovation and regulatory compliance assistance ----OYO’s focus continues to be on generating high yields for asset owners along with offering excellent customer service. OYO can transform and renovate assets in a record time of 3-14 days and on-board them at an even quicker pace — a stark contrast to the industry standard of up to 90 days. Increase in Occupancy An asset owner, Rick Patel, based in the US elaborates on the jump in occupancy. He says, "Before OYO, our occupancy was about 20-25% and now, we are running at about 80% occupancy. We have never reached this occupancy rate before in the last 5 years. I would definitely recommend OYO to my friends and family interested in getting into the hospitality industry. My experience with OYO has been amazing. The team is great to work with, very energetic and supportive. We are just looking forward to the next level." OYO brings to the table a successful model of combining design, hospitality, and technological expertise, financial acumen and operational capabilities to real estate owners around the world, giving them the ability to get a higher return on investments, access easy financing opportunities, transform their hotels, and offer good quality customer service, thereby significantly increasing occupancy and profitability – in every OYO building. There are over 35,000 of these buildings worldwide. OYO has been able to generate a high yield for asset owners by maintaining 70-80% occupancy, which is often an issue with an asset-light model. On an average, over 75% of hotel owners associated with OYO have seen an increase of 20-30% in occupancy, a 2.5 x jump in RevPar and a significant jump in profit, for every asset operating as an OYO-branded property. Another asset owner, Narendra Saini from Ahmedabad, says, “It has been three months since my partner and I joined hands with OYO and are already witnessing great results in terms of occupancy and yields. Prior to joining hands with OYO, our main challenge was promoting our hotel through different channels. There was a time when in the offseason we used to get only 25-30% occupancy which now, post associating with OYO, has jumped to more than 80%. With OYO, it has been a true collaboration of sorts where we both are mutually benefitting. Our hotel witnesses bookings from corporate clients. We have an in house restaurant and are soon going to open a multi-cuisine rooftop restaurant by next month.” Best Pricing Mechanism in the Industry OYO has introduced dynamic pricing in the hospitality industry to create a level-playing ground even for an independent or small hotelier. OYO’s pricing, inventory allocation, and revenue management are driven by a machine learning-based algorithm for prediction and dynamic pricing. The algorithm makes 60 million micro-optimizations, every day, to arrive at the optimal price point that ensures an affordable stay for guests while driving higher yields and occupancy for the asset owner. Above &amp; Beyond To further support the business goals of asset owners, OYO launched OYO Partner Engagement Network (OPEN) in India - an industry-first series of year-long initiatives. This was followed up with another industry-first initiative called ‘Cash in Bank’ facility to offer asset owners across India quick, hassle-free and collateral-free business advances to upgrade or renovate their buildings, with the never seen before ease, turnaround time, and convenience. This will further help asset owners improve the guest experience along with direct and repeat rate that’s already approximately 90%. OYO also introduced Partner Privilege Program in India to boost asset owner success and growth on the one hand and create a mechanism for continual engagement and recognition on the other. The Partner Privilege Program provides exclusive benefits and opportunities to OYO India’s top-performing hotel owners for their personal and professional advancement. Amol Dhir, an asset owner from Agra and a member of OYO India Partner Advisory Council, says, “I strongly believe that getting affiliated to a brand like OYO can help the small, unbranded hotels in tapping the guests within the brand ecosystem. OYO’s sales team is fabulously supporting my hotel. They are running the show from behind the curtain, where a number of sales representatives, are pitching my hotel, even beyond the country’s boundaries to intended travellers.” On his partnership and journey with OYO, Amol says, “When I joined this hotel 12 years back I had a big vision for it, perhaps way too big than what my grandfather, my father and my family had for this hotel. I wanted a support system, a partner who could assist me in this. One day people from OYO walked in and they pitched me the idea of getting my hotel onboarded. I felt that they were just the right people who I could entrust my idea and push my vision further and we could grow along. The biggest change I found when OYO came along was how tech-savvy they were. Now, sitting at home I get to check the occupancy reports, employee management, booking and revenue reports. As an independent hotelier, I could not have achieved this or would have taken a little longer to get there. Technology with OYO became more accessible, affordable. Our life as a businessman became easier through this technology. For me, OYO has always been a partner and it is giving us various opportunities to get featured and grow along.” If you are inspired by these success stories, you can know more about how to become an asset owner with OYO here: <a href="https://partner.oyorooms.com/in">https://partner.oyorooms.com/in</a> Disclaimer: This article is a part of a commercial partnership Oyo and Business Insider India.

Here's how OYO is enabling micro-entrepreneurship and creating crorepatis—many of them are from Gujarat

Richard Drew/APRitesh Agarwal is the founder and CEO of Oyo.<ul class="summary-list"><li>SoftBank-backed Oyo fired 110 employees in the US citing their performance on April 1, Business Insider has confirmed. The company also put <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">thousands more employees</a> on paid leave to cut costs this week.</li><li>Some of those fired employees said they never had conversations about their performance with a manager before their sudden termination, leading them to question the reason.</li><li>Employees who currently or used to work at Oyo said sales had essentially become impossible amid the coronavirus and after negative articles damaged the company's reputation with hotels.</li><li>Oyo said the firings were based on performance in the first 90 days of their employment, and were unrelated to the recent furloughs.</li><li>People who were fired are being asked to sign separation agreements that will pay them severance if they agree not sue the company in a class-action lawsuit or speak publicly about their employment.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The former "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-10/softbank-backed-oyo-is-firing-thousands-across-china-and-india?sref=BWbpWjRm">jewel</a>" of SoftBank's startup portfolio has had another shakeup.One week before its reported furloughs, Oyo quietly fired 110 employees in the US, saying they were being terminated based on performance, Business Insider has confirmed. Employees said those people affected were not on performance improvement plans before their firing, which made them question the reason for their sudden removal."They were saying, 'This is not a layoff. You are being terminated for performance,'" said an employee who was fired over the phone on April 1.Oyo confirmed the firings in an email, saying that the reductions were based on employees' ability to close a sale in their first 90 days of employment, and were not related to the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">recent furloughs</a>.Still, people who currently or used to work at Oyo are arguing that the firings were part of a cost-cutting strategy as the startups rides out the coronavirus pandemic. The company's salesforce has struggled to make deals since before the outbreak because of its reputation in the hotel industry, multiple sources said. Some employees who were fired said they should have been laid off instead."Your sources seem unreliable as the details are incorrect," an Oyo spokesperson said in an email on Friday. "Specific to this instance, these terminations were performance-based, where sales team members, who generally had not made a single sale since December 9th of last year at least, including some who had not made a sale for more than 180 days, were impacted."Eight employees spoke to Business Insider on condition of anonymity because some signed nondisclosure agreements, and others were not authorized to speak publicly on Oyo.They said that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-oyo-layoffs-us-offices-2020-1">last round of layoffs</a> in the US, which Business Insider first reported in January, created a firestorm for Oyo. The startup sells to mostly independent motels and puts up money to redecorate and make sure the internet works, for a percentage on every reservation.The layoffs added to growing signs of trouble at Oyo, shaking its credibility with hotel owners and making it harder to close deals, according to some employees who were spared in January."It was a huge PR nightmare. They lost credibility with the owners," said one former employee. She said that any more news stories about "Oyo not being able to make it in America" would put the company out of business."They can't survive having another media story," said another source.OyoOyo gives independent hotel owners money for property improvements in exchange for a cut on every reservation made on Oyo's app.The Economic Times, a daily newspaper in India, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/oyo-gives-pink-slips-to-us-staff/articleshow/75038719.cms">first reported the firings</a> at Oyo on Thursday.<h2>Oyo is slashing costs</h2>The big <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">news out of Oyo</a> this week was that the budget hotel chain was placing thousands of employees on paid leave for at least two months. The goal, said Oyo's founder and chief executive Ritesh Agarwal in a video message, is to cut costs now so it can put people back to work after the travel industry recovers from the economic shutdown.Those employees on furlough will earn 15% of their salary before taxes and deductions, and receive health benefits, according to a document sent to current employees on Thursday, which was seen by Business Insider.In the video message, which has since been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1V3HE_2XOk&amp;feature=youtu.be">posted on YouTube</a>, Agarwal said the company would avoid layoffs."This situation of COVID-19 comes at a very unique time for Oyo. This is right after we had a sizable restructuring of our company in January of this year," Agarwal said. "Due to that, I want to clarify for all of you that we intend to do no or negligible layoffs as a part of cost restructuring across the world."Oyo's chief executive will also <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ritesh-agarwal-founder--group-ceo-oyo-to-forego-100-of-his-annual-salary-and-the-executive-leadership-team-to-take-voluntary-salary-cuts-301034128.html">not take a salary</a> for the rest of the year. Other executives are following suit, Oyo said.<h2>The coronavirus pandemic has made closing sales a struggle, some former employees said</h2>Based in India, Oyo has raised $3.1 billion in equity from SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, and Lightspeed Ventures on the promise of rapid growth. After taking over <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-19/hotel-unicorn-oyo-plots-300-million-push-into-the-u-s-market">more than 23,000 properties</a> around the world, the company opened its first office in Texas in early 2019 with the goal of duplicating its success in the US. Oyo hired a salesforce of hundreds to bring US motels onto its platform."The rough idea was, if we signed 'X' amount of hotels with 150 sales people, let's quadruple the number of sales people and we'll quadruple the number of hotels, which was a spectacular failure," said a former employee who left the company earlier this year."I think they way over-committed to what they were capable of," he said.Some of the employees who were fired on April 1 were told that they had not made a sale in their first 60 days of employment, which was grounds for termination. Those workers did not contest what their supervisors said.The task was near-impossible, they said.Employees said that the startup had difficulty signing on hotels <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/oyo-layoffs-have-hotel-partners-worried/articleshow/73348921.cms?from=mdr">because of its reputation</a>. A business development manager would walk onto a property and ask to speak to an owner, who had one of two reactions, they said. "One was, 'Yeah, I know who Oyo is. Not interested. Get out.' Response two was, 'Who's Oyo?'" a current employee said.A hotel owner who searched Oyo on the internet would find "nothing but negative articles," including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/technology/oyo-softbank-india.html">a report in The New York Times detailing its questionable business practices</a>, said the employee, who is being furloughed.In India, some hotel owners said that after they spent money to renovate their rooms to match Oyo's branding, they never received reimbursements they had been promised, the Times reported.Adnan Abidi/ReutersA sign making disparaging remarks about Oyo is placed outside a hotel in New Delhi, India.The startup also changed the terms it could offer hotel owners because of the coronavirus pandemic's effect on its business, according to current and former employees. They said Oyo used to give $1,500 per room on average for improvements, and has since lowered its capital expenditure to $300 a room. Revenue has dropped 50% to 60% since the outbreak, according to the startup.In recent months, the company <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/oyo-suspends-payments-to-hotels-partners-say-clause-not-in-contract/74958727">also suspended payouts to hotels</a> if they do not reach a certain number of bookings, known as a minimum guarantee payment. Still, Oyo increased its percentage cut on room reservations by several points, employees said."Nothing as far as the value of what we were offering increased," said a former employee who was fired last week.In a written statement, Oyo said that the salespeople who were fired had not made a sale in their first 90 days of employment, not 60 days. Most of those individuals started around the winter holidays, before the first cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Wuhan, China. The virus wasn't <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-declares-coronavirus-pandemic-covid19-2020-3">declared a pandemic</a> until early March.Some people had not made a sale in six months, an Oyo spokesperson said. The decision to fire people was based on their performance even before the outbreak worsened, according to Oyo."Performance management actions are periodic actions," they said. "There is clear communication to the sales team about the expectation to sign their first deal within 60 days, and disciplinary actions, including termination, after 90 days."<h2>'The document they sent me was hush money,' an employee said</h2>Oyo fired mostly business development managers across 32 states and Washington, DC, according to a separation and release agreement that was obtained by Business Insider.Now, those employees are being asked to sign separation agreements that will pay them one to two weeks salary if they agree not sue the company in a class-action lawsuit or speak out against Oyo, according to multiple sources and a copy of one of the agreements viewed by Business Insider."The document they sent me was hush money," said one former Oyo employee, who said he was fired for not closing a sale in his first 60 days of employment.Oyo is not required to pay severance to employees who are fired for cause."The company, however, went out of its way to provide a modest severance package," an Oyo spokesperson said."Also, recognizing the difficult timing of this action, Oyo has ensured that employees who rely on its benefits plans will continue to have coverage in both April and May."The company said it will cover 100% of the insurance premiums in May.Do you work at Oyo and want to share your story? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (603) 913-3085 using a nonwork phone, email at mrussell@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @meliarobin.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email <a href="mailto:covidtips@businessinsider.com">covidtips@businessinsider.com</a> and tell us your story.Get the latest <a href="/coronavirus-business-impact">coronavirus business &amp; economic impact analysis</a> from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-could-be-fastest-way-end-coronavirus-crisis-2020-4">What could be the fastest way to end the coronavirus crisis?</a></h3>

Oyo, the former 'jewel' in SoftBank's startup portfolio, quietly fired 110 people based on their performance. Some fired workers say it was basically impossible to close sales, and the company is only offering severance if they agree to not speak out.

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Oyo, the former 'jewel' in SoftBank's startup portfolio, quietly fired 110 people based on their performance. Some fired workers say it was basically impossible to close sales, and the company is only offering severance if they agree to not speak out.

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