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

• OYO, which already has 50 hotels in the US, has invested $300 million to expand its presence.
• It will soon enter New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
• 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.

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 Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & 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 biggest hotel chain. It is reportedly 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 said 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:
Airbnb picks up a stake in its Indian rival Oyo Rooms
Oyo wants a bite of foodtech, may acquire Freshmenu: Report
A 6-year-old Indian startup wants to be world’s biggest hotel chain