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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

<ul><li>OYO has launched a partner network for its 8,700+ asset owners. </li><li>OYO is the 6th largest hotel chain in the world currently.</li><li>In India, over 15 cities have 200 <keyword id="4964826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-hotels">OYO hotels</keyword> per city. </li></ul>OYO is beefing up technology platform and is now looking to build a partner network of hotel owners, much like the big technology giants like Microsoft, HP, Amazon, who have a network of distributors, vendors and retail partners. The move seems to be targeted at extending the company’s reach and brand to a wider and deeper audience on the hotel owner side. OYO, which hasn’t yet celebrated its 5th anniversary, has been growing fast and taking on big hotel chains like Hyatt, Choice hotels among others. Now, in a bid to grow to the world’s largest hotel chain (it currently ranks sixth), OYO has turned its focus to hotel owner or asset partners, promising them several new services. OYO which already has an app for travellers for bookings, had a parallel app for hotel owners to manage the same and also their business transactions. OYO has now upgraded the app (called Co-OYO) to offer hotel owners financing help through its network of Indian banks, marketing support to boost their reach, help in compliance with regulations through access to top law and accounting firms and timely payments by assuring an interest of 18% on delayed payments. The hotel chain has also included technological solutions like OYO OS, a property management system. These new services will be available to over 8,700 hotel owners in OYO’s current network. At the launch of the network called OPEN - OYO Partner Engagement Network, <keyword id="229263" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aditya-Ghosh">Aditya Ghosh</keyword>, CEO, India &amp; South Asia, OYO hotels, spoke about the company’s plans to expand fast. “Today with the launch of OPEN, we are laying the foundations of a structured way of exchanging ideas, providing support and most importantly, building a relationship of trust on which we hope to build the next several decades to come. We are doing this in several ways but in this fast moving world, being in touch on a real-time basis is key and therefore for the very first time in the hospitality industry, we are proud to launch the Co-OYO app which will transparently provide business metrics,” said Aditya Ghosh, CEO, India &amp; South Asia, of OYO Hotels. OYO has 175,000+ rooms in India, whereas in China it has 322,000+ rooms and in the rest of the world put together, it is adding 60,000 rooms every month. In India, over 15 cities have 200 OYO hotels per city. “Some of the largest hotel chains in India which have been around for 100 years have 20,000 rooms, And OYO in 30 days added 60,000 new rooms. I have been asked this question are we growing too fast? I believe we are not growing fast enough,” said Ghosh. 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-partners-with-softbank-to-launch-oyo-hotels-japan/articleshow/68719436.cms">OYO partners with Softbank to create a joint venture for its Japan business</a>

OYO upgrades its app for hotel owners and offers financing, marketing support and timely payments

<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><keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>, founder and CEO of OYO, has had quite a journey over the years. </li><li>He had founded the company when he wasn’t even 20. </li><li>Today, OYO is racing with speed to be one of the world’s biggest hotel chains.</li></ul>While he has not even attained 25 years of age, Ritesh Agarwal, the CEO of OYO has seen it all – popularity, business success and financial prosperity. He has made something unique at a time when others had not even thought of it – a hotel booking software that would assure room for anyone at their favorite hotel at competitive prices. Ritesh says, his success was not an easy one. Here are some interesting facts about Ritesh Agarwal that will inspire any reader. Ritesh Agarwal was not confident about his studies Ritesh doubted his own abilities to do well in college or working for someone. Hence he jumped into something like building OYO. He says, “I knew if I had gone to college, I would not have done well. And then my family would hate me. So I felt if my family was to hate me anyway, I would rather do what I feel very excited about!” He failed six times before succeeding Ritesh had once commented that he failed six times before he succeeded in his OYO venture. Ritesh says, “If you have not failed, you have not hardened yourself.” Hails from a simple family Ritesh hails from a family running a small local shop in Southern Orissa. If he had not chosen to take a different course for his life, he would have ended up overseeing the shop. Ritesh wanted to do something exciting. Every entrepreneur has a story behind him. He started working with SMEs and tried to bring them sales. It was only in his second venture, he started with making success that too slowly. Initially the VCs thought he was talking about real estate business Ritesh’s task of convincing the VCs to fund his venture was not an easy one. When he attempted to find a solution to the hotel booking process, something like OYO had not been built earlier. The investors asked if there was anything similar to what he was trying to build. While they all interpreted his venture as a real estate business, only two months later they all started when competition started building up. OYO had to climb a steep uphill The forward march of OYO into success was not easy as it sounds. Managing the component of predictability was a mammoth task for them. This challenge still continues. After they had standardized 45,000 rooms spread across 160 cities, managing the same set of facilities again and again, dealing with the issues that crop up, maintaining the 4* ratings on TripAdvisor and satisfying the customers on maximum deals were a tough job which they could manage efficiently with a lot of efforts. OYO has a favorable business scene in the international market Ritesh says OYO does not have an international competitor who will breathe down its way. So when it comes to discounting and cash burning, OYO possibly has the least amount of burning and so faces a favorable economics on its journey forward. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/unknown-facts-about-flipkart-founder-sachin-bansal/articleshow/70494717.cms">Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/paytm-founder-vijay-shekhar-sharma-unknown-facts/articleshow/69941150.cms">Paytm Founder Vijay Shakhar Sharma</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/10-interesting-facts-about-gautam-adani-that-you-should-know/articleshow/69900616.cms">Interesting facts about Gautam Adani</a>

Ritesh Agarwal: Interesting facts about oyo founder ritesh agarwal

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.

<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><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><li>Rating agency Moody downgraded its outlook from stable to negative.</li><li>OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal was recently booked in a cheating case by a hotel owner in Bengaluru.</li><li><keyword id="2404631" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Motu-Patlu">Motu Patlu</keyword>’s creators eye the big fat Chinese cartoon market with 5 new shows 
</li></ul>This week, rating agency Moody’s changed its outlook on India from stable to negative. Motu Patlu’s creator told Business Insider that they are going to launch five new shows in China. OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal was recently booked in a cheating case by a hotel owner in Bengaluru. The stalemate over <keyword id="13126" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Maharashtra">Maharashtra</keyword> state government continues. Senior <keyword id="6358821" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="shiv-sena">Shiv Sena</keyword> leader Sanjay Raut met NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Wednesday. <div type="Slideshow" msid="71972407" hostid="261" title="Here’s a rundown of what all happened this week" firstImageMsid="71972408" slideCount="4"></div>

Here’s a rundown of what all happened this week

Satya Nadella-run <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> is in advanced talks to invest in Airbnb-backed Indian budget hotel chain <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> at a valuation of $9 billion, the media reported on Friday. According to a TechCrunch report citing sources, a deal may close soon but the "proposed size of the investment is unclear". Both Microsoft and OYO declined to comment on the reports. The Ritesh Agarwal-run hospitality chain has Airbnb, Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing and ride-hailing firm Grab as strategic investors. The news comes after OYO announced earlier this month that it has raised $660 million from global institutional investors as <keyword id="4462417" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="tlb">TLB</keyword> (Term Loan B). A company statement had said that the offer was oversubscribed by 1.7 times and the company received commitments of close to $1 billion from leading institutional investors. "We are delighted by the response to OYO's maiden TLB capital raise that was oversubscribed by leading global institutional investors. We are thankful for the trust that they have placed in OYO's mission of creating value for owners and operators of hotels and homes across the globe," said Abhishek Gupta, Group Chief Financial Officer, OYO. The company said it will utilise these funds to retire its past debts, strengthen the balance sheet and other business purposes including investment in product technology, it said. OYO is the first Indian startup to be publicly rated by Moody's and <keyword id="82981" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fitch">Fitch</keyword>, two of the leading international rating agencies. The Microsoft deal "may also involve OYO shifting to use its cloud services," the report mentioned. OYO has aggressively been expanding its operations to several markets including Southeast Asia, Europe and the US in recent years. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tech-mahindra-shares-price-jump-because-management-sees-a-10-plus-growth/articleshow/84882133.cms">Tech Mahindra shares surge as for the first time in over five years the management sees a 10% plus growth</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/cleartax-major-acquisitions-and-hiring-2021-funding-on-the-way/articleshow/84880048.cms">Clear(Tax) has planned major acquisitions and hiring for this year, in talks with investors to raise funds</a>

Microsoft is in advanced talks to invest in OYO at a valuation of $9 billion, say media reports

Business Insider is proud to announce that Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of SoftBank-backed hotel chain <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="OYO">Oyo</keyword>, will speak at the inaugural <a href="https://trendsfestival.com/?utm_source=tf_usa&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ticketn=ticket">BI Global Trends Festival</a>, a virtual event taking place the week of October 19-23, 2020.Agarwal, who founded Oyo when he was 18, predicts rapid changes in people's travel habits resulting from the coronavirus pandemic."The hospitality industry will never be the same again, that is absolutely clear," Agarwal <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/small-the-new-big-for-hotels-post-pandemic-says-oyo-ceo-2020-9?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">told Reuters</a>. "Small hotels are going to be in vogue. In my view, small is going to be the new big, wherein people will rethink a lot about going back to that 1,000-room hotel versus going to a 40-room niche hotel."Oyo allows guests to book rooms on its mobile app. Promising more revenue to hotel owners, the company transforms local hotels into Oyo franchises and takes a cut on every booking.As a college student, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/indian-budget-hotel-startup-oyo-expands-to-the-uk-2018-9?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">Agarwal won $100,000 from the Thiel Fellowship</a>, a grant for young entrepreneurs. Oyo has since raised more than $3 billion in capital, including $700 million from Agarwal himself as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oyo-raises-15-billion-from-ceo-and-other-backers-at-10-billion-valuation-2019-10">part of a deal that raised Oyo's valuation</a> to $10 billion. SoftBank has been funding the company since 2015.Hear Agarwal discuss the future of travel at the <keyword id="9732021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="business-insider-global-trends-festival">Business Insider Global Trends Festival</keyword>. Get your tickets today.<h2><a href="https://trendsfestival.com/en/tickets-for-trends-festival.html?utm_source=tf_usa&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ticketn=ticket">Buy tickets &gt;&gt;</a></h2>

Oyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal to speak at the Business Insider Global Trends Festival 2020

<ul><li><keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> is buying @Leisure from <keyword id="420697" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Axel-Springer">Axel Springer</keyword>, the media and technology company, for $415 million. </li><li>This will add 300,000 rooms to OYO’s list.</li><li>Vacation homes are becoming a big part of OYO’s strategy, after having launched OYO Homes in 2017.</li></ul>From a unicorn in 2018 to becoming a global hotel chain, Indian hospitality <keyword id="138263" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup">startup</keyword> OYO <keyword id="6368036" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="hotels">Hotels</keyword> &amp; Homes has achieved a lot within a year. Now, OYO is once again in the news for having acquired Amsterdam-based <keyword id="7586774" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Leisure-Group">@Leisure Group</keyword> of hotels. OYO is buying @Leisure from Axel Springer, the media and technology company, for $415 million. The acquisition marks an important step in OYO’s journey, as this becomes one of the biggest acquisitions done by an Indian startup in the global arena. With the acquisition, OYO will now have @Leisure’s more than 30,000-fully managed holiday homes across 13 countries in Europe and a subscription-based home management service with over 85,000 homes across 50 countries. This will add 300,000 rooms to OYO’s list. OYO has 175,000+ rooms in India, whereas in China it has 322,000+ rooms and in the rest of the world put together, it is adding 60,000 rooms every month. In India, over 15 cities have 200 OYO hotels per city. “If one were to look at Europe alone, there is an ever-increasing demand for vacation homes with an increasing trend of booking an entire home. Through this acquisition, the size and scale of the opportunity can be immediately unlocked for OYO’s Homes business. Today, more than 2.8 mn holidaymakers from over 118 countries book their holiday every year with @Leisure Group. The combined strength of both brands can scale the opportunity multifold,” said OYO’s Global Chief Strategy Officer, Maninder Gulati. Vacation homes are becoming a big part of OYO’s strategy – it had launched OYO Homes in 2017. OYO Homes already has over 15,000 villas and apartment units globally. Global expansion mode In a bid to become the world’s largest hotel chain (OYO currently holds the 6th position), OYO has been fast expanding its businesses in India and globally. In 2017, OYO had entered the China market and rapidly expanded to be one of the biggest hotel chains in the country. In fact, OYO has more rooms to offer in China than it does in india. Earlier in 2019, OYO announced its partnership with Japan-based SoftBank Corp and the SoftBank Vision fund to launch a new venture called Oyo Hotels Japan. It had also started a housing rental service in Japan called Oyo Life. The company also has a presence in Indonesian, European and Sri Lankan markets. In September 2018, OYO had opened its signature OYO townhouses in London. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-upgrades-its-app-for-hotel-owners-and-offers-financing-marketing-support-and-timely-payments/articleshow/68940755.cms">OYO upgrades its app for hotel owners and offers financing, marketing support and timely payments</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-partners-with-softbank-to-launch-oyo-hotels-japan/articleshow/68719436.cms">OYO partners with Softbank to create a joint venture for its Japan business</a>

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

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Microsoft is in advanced talks to invest in OYO at a valuation of $9 billion, say media reports

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Oyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal to speak at the Business Insider Global Trends Festival 2020

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