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<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>

OYO's $415 million acquisition of Amsterdam-based holiday home chain part of plan to become the world's largest hotel company

<ul><li><keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">Oyo</keyword> wants to have 1 million <keyword id="18966" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hotel">hotel</keyword> rooms in the next one-and-a-half years. </li><li>The hospitality unicorn had recently appointed <keyword id="229263" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aditya-Ghosh">Aditya Ghosh</keyword>, former <keyword id="6354706" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IndiGo">Indigo</keyword> president, as its CEO of South Asia operations. </li><li>The company is focusing on international growth with plans to further enter into the European, Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian markets. </li></ul>In 2013, a scrawny 20-year-old from Odisha set out to start a portal from where you could book hotel rooms online. Cut to 2019 and the 25-year-old <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword> is the founder of India’s unicorn startup <keyword id="2550719" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Rooms">Oyo Rooms</keyword>. It also has Aditya Ghosh, the former president of Indigo Airlines, on board and together, they intend to make Oyo the biggest <keyword id="150849" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="hotel-chain">hotel chain</keyword> in the world. Oyo Rooms is already the largest hotel chain in South Asia. “We will have one million rooms inventory into our fold in the near distant future. I think, it should happen in a year and a half,” Ghosh told the news agency PTI on January 15. Ghosh is the CEO, South Asia operations. A million rooms will be about double its existing network of 450,000. Over the years, Oyo has put up its red-and-white logo in almost every other budget hotel in the country and has gone from being just an aggregator for hotel bookings to owning properties including Oyo Townhouse (budget hotels) and Oyo Living (coliving rental spaces). While Oyo had marked its first international debut in 2018 with Dubai, it has been focusing more on China, Europe, Malaysia and Indonesia. Agarwal has brought in Ghosh to drive the fast developing South Asia operations. In fact, the company’s fast expansion into the Chinese market saw it become one of the top 10 hotel chains in China in just one year of operations. Oyo Rooms <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/oyo-manages-more-rooms-in-china-than-in-india/articleshow/66725906.cms">reportedly</a> manages more hotels in China than in India. Oyo also has its eyes in Japan, taking stock of the large number of people that’s going to visit the country for the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-oyo-hotels-eyes-biggest-hotel-chain-tag-to-double-global-footprint-2707996">2020 Olympics</a>. The hospitality startup had turned into a unicorn in<a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/oyo-appoints-top-level-execs-to-drive-international-growth/"> 2018</a> after it received a funding of $800 million at a valuation of $5 billion. It has found backing from top investors like Softbank Group, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed India among others. It has the money, it has the drive, and it certainly has room to grow fast and large. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/oyo-rooms-is-the-most-valuable-hotel-chain-in-south-asia-after-softbank-investment/articleshow/65964564.cms">OYO Rooms is the most valuable “hotel chain” in South Asia after Softbank investment</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/this-24-year-old-dropped-out-of-college-won-funding-from-peter-thiel-then-raised-480-million-for-his-startup/articleshow/65910683.cms">This 24-year-old dropped out of college, won funding from Peter Thiel, then raised $480 million for his startup</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/this-24-year-old-dropped-out-of-college-won-funding-from-peter-thiel-then-raised-480-million-for-his-startup/articleshow/65910683.cms">This SoftBank-funded startup was founded by a 24-year-old to glam up budget hotels, and it's just launched in the UK</a>

A 6-year-old Indian startup wants to be world’s biggest hotel chain

<ul><li>Oyo launches a SOS button for its consumers. </li><li>The unicorn startup also has a trained Oyo Safety Response Team. </li><li>With a pilot project in Gurugram currently, the service will soon be available across 25 cities in India.</li></ul>Indian unicorn hospitality startup <keyword id="2550719" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Rooms">Oyo Rooms</keyword> has <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/technology/report-oyo-launches-industry-first-in-app-sos-button-here-is-how-the-feature-works-2728644">launched </a>a SOS button for its users. The in-app SOS button will help users staying in Oyo hotels or partnership hotels to alert authorities during an emergency situation. The hospitality chain has also trained a 24x7 OYO Safety Response Team (SRT) which will be able to help consumers. The app will also initiate a call with local law enforcement authorities if the situation arises. A pilot of the SOS button has already been launched with Gurugram and will soon be made available in 25 cities. With increasing number of women and solo travellers in the country, the feature has been long due. “We believe that this will enable guests especially women and solo travellers to feel secure further encouraging travellers to travel to and within India," <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/technology/report-oyo-launches-industry-first-in-app-sos-button-here-is-how-the-feature-works-2728644">said</a> Aditya Ghosh, CEO - India and South Asia, OYO Hotels and Homes. Oyo, which is the largest hotel chain in South Asia, aims to be the world’s biggest hotel chain. “We will have one million rooms inventory into our fold in the near distant future. I think, it should happen in a year and a half,” Ghosh had told the news agency PTI on January 15. The company had recently raised $100 million from China’s ride-hailing <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/chinas-didi-chuxing-invests-in-oyo-brings-billion-dollar-funding-round-to-a-close/">company</a> Didi Chuxing, in continuation with the $1 billion fund Oyo was raising. Oyo’s valuation stays at $5 billion. 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/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/solo-travel-in-india-rises/articleshow/67936872.cms">More Indians are travelling solo than ever before</a>

Oyo's new SOS button promises to make Indian hotels safer

OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, the world's leading hospitality chain, today announced that it will continue to ramp up efforts to improve its information security framework as well as roll-out stronger ethical hacking and bug bounty programs to encourage continuous improvement and collaboration with ethical hacking experts. This development is in line with the company's commitment towards ensuring data privacy and building a robust cybersecurity network. According to Jagbir Singh, Engineering Manager - DevOps and InfoSec, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, "One of our biggest assets is the trust our customers, partners and employees place in us. We understand that trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. One key responsibility in earning this trust is protecting the data our customers and other stakeholders have with us from any unauthorised use. Our team of 1100+ world-class security, network and software engineers and external partners across multiple geographies is at work 24x7 ensuring the protection of this data, so our customers and stakeholders can rest easy." The Bug Bounty program that the company aims to introduce is towards ensuring that there is a credible and continuous flow of positive feedback from independent security groups and individual researchers to mitigate against any bug or shortfall in the company's systems. This is in line with the established practice of recognition and reward for ethical hackers who help responsibly investigate shortfalls within the tech architecture of several tech companies including the likes of Silicon Valley giants like Facebook, Google etc. OYO has accordingly developed an improved responsible disclosure policy to encourage honest and responsible reporting of any potential risks. Additionally, OYO has partnered with a specialized cybersecurity startup, AppSecure/Hackerhive, that connects companies and ethical hackers to help the former discover and fix security vulnerabilities and is in the process of developing a full-fledged bug bounty program. Security a priority Security is an integral part of any process at OYO; beginning from the collection of data, during transfer and processing to storage at rest. We follow a comprehensive information security framework based on NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA), ISO 27001 and other stringent industry standards. Our commitment also extends to employee training and sensitization at every step. All new joiners at OYO go through information security training as part of the New Employee Orientation. The company's software developers and other Information Security personnel also attend a mandatory quarterly refresher since the technology in this space is dynamic and evolving very quickly. There is also an annual mandatory refresher training for all existing employees. Commenting on this announcement, Anil Goel, Group Chief Technology and Product Officer, said, "We have a robust and world-class security team comprising of in-house and external experts employing best in class security techniques including virtual private networks/cloud, firewalls, intrusion prevention and detection devices (IPS and IDS), security trainings for all engineers, static and dynamic code analysis, regular vulnerability assessments and network penetration tests. In today's digital world, a cyberattack is a real concern. Hence, in line with our efforts to continually improve, we are investing in ethical hacking programs as well." OYO also joined hands with other technology companies to address the issue of increasing online frauds and save guests from cybercrimes. Along with other companies, OYO met the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) representatives and made a joint representation on the issue that also addressed the plan on how to curb these online frauds followed by a meeting with other stakeholders in the telecom industry. The company has a long way to go and as it continues to amplify investments in this ever-evolving space, it aims to continually improve. About OYO Hotels and Homes Opening its doors in 2013, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, a young hotel startup, today is the world's leading chain of hotels and homes. The portfolio combines fully operated real estate comprising more than 43,000 hotels with over 1 million rooms. Through its vacation homes business, the company offers travellers and city dwellers access to over 130,000 homes around the world under OYO Home, Belvilla, Danland, Dancenter and Germany-based Traum-Ferienwohnungen brands. OYO today operates in over 800 cities in 80 countries, including the U.S., Europe, U.K., India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Japan.

OYO to roll out comprehensive ethical hacking and bug bounty programs

Imagine this! Expanding from 11 hotels in two cities to 7000 hotels in 2000 cities in a little more than three years isn’t an easy task. But Ritesh <keyword id="781" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Agarwal">Agarwal</keyword> of <keyword id="2808667" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="OYO">Oyo</keyword> has achieved that. Not just the growth in expansion, revenue has boomed as well. Last year at annual general meeting of the Indian Hotels Company, Cyrus Mistry, the erstwhile Tata chief admitted that going like this Oyo may be a clear ‘threat’ to hospitality space where Tata owns groups like Taj, Vivanta, Gateway and Ginger. Talking to the Economic Times, Agarwal said that Oyo will be closing $250-300 million round of funding from <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword>, which will take its valuation to over $850 million and a step closer to the unicorn club. At a time when most of the SoftBank’s investments in India are bleeding including <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, Ola and Grofers, Japan’s conglomerate is expecting a big gain from India’s hotel aggregator. Agarwal told the ET, that losses are a ‘part of investment’. What investors are looking at is also growth more than profits. They hate high burn rates but they hesitate to fund a profit making company with slow growth rate. While Oyo seems to be the dark horse of SoftBank’s investments in India, it needs to be checked how it fares in the long run. Oyo’s new initiative <keyword id="4100346" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oyo-Townhouse">Oyo Townhouse</keyword> will cater to the upscale clientele. The Townhouse model, according to ET news report, will call for investment - an estimated Rs 3.5 lakh in each room, with each property having up to 20 rooms - as the company goes about setting up 250 Townhouses over the next six months. However what needs to be seen if customers prefer Oyo Townhouse versus a Sarovar or a Lemon Tree. Agarwal told ET that Oyo has more than doubled its growth. Its burn rate has come down by as much as 60%, customer service rating is at the highest, and losses have come down from Rs 496.31 crore in March-ended 2016 fiscal to Rs 325.26 crore a year later. The venture, he maintains, has found the right momentum, has shunned incentivisation as a long-term, customer-acquisition strategy, and has the backing of its investors.

This is how Oyo is becoming the dark horse of SoftBank’s investments

There’s a game setter in every business, one that makes a rather low-key entry but its sudden insight and innovations completely transforms the rules of the game. Everyone else then has to follow its rules otherwise they may cease to exist. It wouldn’t be going too far if we say <keyword id="2550719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="OYO-Rooms">OYO Rooms</keyword> may become that game setter for the Indian <keyword id="68179" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hospitality-industry">hospitality industry</keyword> in the times to come. 
 After having tied up with <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword>, <keyword id="143842" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mobikwik">MobiKwik</keyword> and <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> to solve basic problems of travel, payment and food, the company is now busy finding ways to do away with check-in formalities and time-consuming manual check-out procedures – two tedious processes each and every Indian customer has to go through at every hotel in the country. The idea is to ensure easy walk-ins and walk-outs for a hassle-free experience. 
 <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword>, the 21-year-old CEO of the OYO Rooms who has already inspired one whole generation of youth with his start-up, says he wants that his customers savor luxury, service and comfort of staying at a hotel but also feel at home at the same time. It’s not possible, however, by adhering to the conventional ways of running the hotel business, he feels. 
 
“Showing your ID while entering or doing a manual check-out when leaving – are these the things you do at home? No. If I have them in hotels, how will you feel at home during your stay then?” asks Ritesh. But the question is how is OYO planning to ease the process of payments? 
 
Via tech-based initiatives is Mr Agarwal’s answer! 
 
So for example, the company has seamlessly integrated the MobiKwik wallet into the OYO app. “It facilitates one tap payment. It’s like checking-out of a hotel without the need of stopping to pay,” says Ritesh, adding that such valued partnerships are helping him in maximizing the consumer experience as well as making OYO services better. 
 
For that matter, even his partnerships with OLA and Zomato have helped him in a similar way – finding transport to OYO properties and making the nearest food options accessible to the customers. Both being basic needs of OYO customers that needed to be addressed. 
 
So, OYO's strategy is simple – identifying the pain points first and rather intelligently (which many in the game have failed to see or perhaps ignored) and immediately addressing them by providing the customer easy on-the-go options. 
 
Even though the budget hotel aggregator has no plans of foraying into other sectors as of now, with the launch of OYO WE it is definitely trying to diversify within the sector. 
 
The idea of WE was born after OYO, Ritesh says, was flooded with queries from customers asking if there were any women specific properties. 
 
Realizing that there was a demand for it, he was quick to launch WE in January this year. “It met with tremendous response and excellent feedback from the women guests. Now, we want to provide more women with a comfortable zone which gives them their privacy and space,” says Ritesh. 
 
Notably, WE has all women staff, a toiletry kit customized for women, on-call beauty parlor services and a special selection of books. Currently, there are three WE properties in Gurgaon, Delhi and Noida. The plan is to have fifteen WE properties across 10 cities by the end of this year. 
 
That’s not all. Talks are also on between OYO and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation for bringing in occupants for MTDC's unsold rooms in resorts. The deal may be sealed under a revenue-share agreement model. 
 
“It’s a great opportunity and will enable us to bring our experience of operation and sales to a large number of properties. Also, through this partnership we will gain access to running some of Maharashtra’s favorite hotels, and we can’t be more thrilled about it. We are still in the process of finalizing things with them,” says Ritesh. 
 
So much on OYO's future plans. 
 
For now, it has announced offers keeping in mind the upcoming festive season. It’s running a flat 30% off pan India, for check-in/check-out till 31 October. (Coupon Code: OYOS30); a flat 50% off on OYO’s select premium properties, Pan India on properties above 2000 INR (Code: PR50). Those heading to Goa during the peak season (October, November and December), there's good news as the company is giving 30% discount across all its properties there. (Code: GOA30). 
 
As the demand graph for OYO Rooms goes up among customers as well as hotels, it plans to expand to 150 cities and to have 50,000 rooms in the country by the end of the year. The bigger aspiration, however, is to be present everywhere in India while focusing on transforming the sector on its way. 
 
Hospitality industry, are you listening? Watch out! If nothing else, this new kid on the block definitely poses a huge threat to your conventional ways of running the business. You might want to think about that.

Exclusive: OYO Rooms’ CEO says soon staying at OYO hotels will be like staying at luxurious homes! Easy walk-in, easy walk-out

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.

<ul><li>Following the successful response to its recent brand films #AisiReachGaye and ‘Kalki Kal Dekhenge,’ OYO recently launched a new advertisement with Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor.</li><li>In the ad, Kapoor loses a bet to Chitrangada and plays golf while wearing a ghagra.</li><li>This unique set of ads from OYO has generated a lot of chatter on social media and has sparked a meme fest.</li><li>We speak to Mayur Hola - Head of Global Brand, OYO and Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, OYO about the latest campaign, its target audience and timing.</li></ul>At a time when hospitality brands are observing a silent period, OYO rolled out a multi-film 360-degree campaign with Gul Panag, Kalki Koechlin, Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor. It was during the peak of COVID that OYO aired its first advertisement during the India VS South Africa ODI match. While it was a risky bet for the brand, especially before its upcoming IPO, to talk about travel without really propagating travelling, OYO’s new campaign has still won many hearts and has also organically trended on Twitter thrice for all of its ads. Last year in December, OYO saw its <a href="https://twitter.com/riteshagar/status/1479737071719759875">busiest month</a> as over a million people booked rooms with the brand for the New Year’s long weekend. We asked OYO whether this campaign was planned for December and delayed due to the sudden surge in cases, Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, OYO said no, it felt like the right time now. Explaining why OYO chose January to roll their campaign out, he said, “December was one of the highest travel peaks for India and yet, that's not when you saw this campaign. You're seeing this campaign at a time when you're stuck at home, and you're thinking about being out there either for travel, leisure or for business. You're thinking about where else I could be? And it's at that point of time, we want there to be a recall and memory of OYO in their minds and for what could it be? That's when you zoom back into the features and say, it could be anywhere which is nearby, Assi Reach Gaye ad is about that; you don't need to reach anywhere, you could just stay here. We felt like this is a good time to just put them out there. People will love the films irrespective of the time we are in.” As the whole country relives 2020 and people are stuck at home yet again, they have the space and time to watch new content and absorb it. Mayur Hola - Head of Global Brand, OYO added that any consideration campaign needs to start a little bit ahead of when you want the customer to act, particularly when you decide that the consideration you seek is from a newer audience. “So our intent to do it now is to be a little ahead of the game and not just advertise when things open up and people have already made plans. And a lot of audiences today react spontaneously. Consideration takes a little more time, hence, the need for the campaign that we planned. I don't think anything else plays a role at all in our choice of timing. This is simply consideration and perception that we would focus on and are giving it the time it needs to bed in,” explained Hola. OYO’s first advertisement of 2022, ‘Assi reach gaye’ featured Gul Panag and an adorable kid who stole all the attention. The film showcases how a kid, who hasn’t had a chance to travel due to the pandemic, would react on a long road trip. It takes you through many stages of his journey, starting with the child enjoying the views of the scenic hills, turning to boredom and finally to restlessness after spending hours in the car. Hereon, the film captures the many quirks of a now impatient 4-year-old child, who incessantly nudges his mom from the backseat and asks, “Assi reach gaye?” With over 4000 tweets, this ad trended on number 2 on Twitter. <div type="Youtube" id="ZK7WgxuO6X8" title="Assi Reach Gaye | OYO Rooms Official" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZK7WgxuO6X8/mqdefault.jpg"></div> It is for the first time that the relatively young hospitality brand OYO is targeting Indian families with a huge media splash. Hola mentioned that OYO has seen some very unique use cases, which inspired its latest campaign to some extent, and realised that while the brand has a young perception in the market, it is used by audiences across age groups. Sharing a few examples, he said, “We live in small homes across the country and people sometimes just don't have the space to fight. So on the surface, you have a couple checking into a room but really they're going in there to squabble because they can’t scream at each other at home. I know that feeling. We have unique use cases of people taking a pitstop, studying, spending the night after a party, which is a big one for us; people just found it safer to check into a room nearby wherever they've been partying and not take a long ride by cab back home. So, we're trying to talk about the various audiences who own us already, and reach out to even further audiences, in terms of families and so on. In one way, it is reflective of usage already and in another way, we want to add more to that pool.” Following the successful response to its brand films ‘Assi Reach Gaye’ and ‘<a href="https://youtu.be/ZWt_6msbML0">Kalki Kal Dekhenge,</a>’ OYO released a third ad film last week featuring Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor. With this film, OYO highlights its app’s ‘search the view’ feature which enables people to discover stays with a view they would like. In the ad, Kunal loses a bet to Chitrangada and plays golf while wearing a ghagra. Within a few hours, this film also trended on Twitter on number three with more than 5,500 tweets. The idea behind these ads, Hola said, is to put OYO’s app at the heart of everything. It promotes different features that the app offers. It will be seen in multiple channels across GEC, News, Infotainment and the Kids genre. It will also promote the first film across its owned PR channels.

OYO is now targeting families through its communications to ring in its next phase of growth

OyoOyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal<ul class="summary-list"><li>Oyo, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-oyo-layoffs-2020-1">the Indian budget hotel startup backed by SoftBank</a>, is laying off sales employees in the U.S., two sources directly familiar with the cuts told Business Insider. </li><li>Layoffs will impact mainly sales personnel and sales support staff at Oyo's US headquarters in Dallas and other sales hubs.</li><li>The layoffs come just weeks after the startup cut 1,800 jobs across its larger offices in India and China.</li><li>The buzzy startup was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oyo-raises-15-billion-from-ceo-and-other-backers-at-10-billion-valuation-2019-10">widely considered one of the "crown jewels" in SoftBank's portfolio</a> after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-masayoshi-son-vision-fund-portfolio-founders-wework-zume-fair-2019-12">the implosion at coworking startup WeWork</a>. It had raised more than $3 billion in funding and was valued at $10 billion.</li><li>This is the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zume-pizza-robots-layoffs-leadership-turmoil-alex-garden-softbank-2020-1"> latest of job cuts hitting SoftBank-backed startups as the investor pushes its companies to prioritize profitability over growth</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>Oyo, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-oyo-layoffs-2020-1">the Indian budget hotel startup backed by SoftBank</a>, is laying off a significant number of its sales and support staff in the US, two sources directly familiar with the cuts told Business Insider. The job cuts come three weeks after the Gurugram, India-based startup said it was eliminating 1,800 jobs at its much larger offices in China and India. Company leaders had described the layoffs as part of a reorganization, consolidating jobs in an effort to juice the company's revenue.It was not immediately clear how many jobs were cut and which offices were affected. Spokespeople for SoftBank and Oyo did not return Business Insider's request for comment. Oyo's layoffs come as other SoftBank-backed companies also restructure with a new focus on profitability. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-many-people-have-been-laid-off-at-softbank-companies-2020-1">A Business Insider review of SoftBank's portfolio</a> found 2,600 job cuts across Oyo, Rappi, Getaround, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zume-pizza-robots-layoffs-leadership-turmoil-alex-garden-softbank-2020-1">Zume in the first week of January, </a>and more than 7,000 layoffs in the last year across 14 companies. The total number of cuts doesn't include groups of employees like WeWork's 1,000 janitorial staff who are being outsourced in the US and Canada.In a memo sent to Oyo staff on Wednesday that was seen by Business Insider, chief operating officer Abhinav Sinha cited sustainable growth as the reason for sweeping cuts. He wrote that many roles will become "redundant" under a new business plan that prioritizes profitability over growth. "We will be primarily redirecting resources from sales and sales support functions to functions that build our operational capabilities like revenue management, data science &amp; machine learning, engineering, and other areas," Sinha wrote in the memo.Sinha continued: "These decisions have been really difficult to make. But I am confident that these are the right decisions for the business today."Oyo's US layoffs occurred in two rounds, said two sources with knowledge of the layoffs. Sinha traveled to the US to deliver the news about the first set of cuts in an all-staff meeting in Dallas on January 22, and further layoffs came on January 29, said one source.The second round of layoffs will mostly affect sales personnel and sales support staff, according to the memo. The startup announced an expansion into the US market in a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oyo-hotels-the-young-hotel-startup-to-invest-300-million-in-the-us-brings-great-living-spaces-to-more-than-10-states-300871517.html">press release</a> last year, setting up a second headquarters in Dallas and offices in Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.One source told Business Insider that the startup moved its headquarters from a WeWork location in Dallas in January. A LinkedIn search found that several sales employees in Dallas had indicated they departed the company in January, but it is not clear whether those employees were part of the larger layoffs made public Wednesday.The memo seen by Business Insider said that affected employees will receive "all possible assistance and support," but did not detail a severance package. The source familiar with the layoffs said employees were offered up to three weeks' severance pay.<h2>Questionable business practices fueled massive growth</h2>Following the implosion at coworking startup WeWork, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oyo-raises-15-billion-from-ceo-and-other-backers-at-10-billion-valuation-2019-10">Oyo was considered SoftBank's saving grace among its portfolio of cash-burning</a> companies.The startup had raised more than $3 billion in funding since its founding in 2014, though its latest round included $700 million from founder and chief executive Ritesh Agarwal to buy back shares from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. The deal raised Oyo's valuation to $10 billion. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-masayoshi-son-vision-fund-portfolio-founders-wework-zume-fair-2019-12">SoftBank has been on the startup's capital table since 2015</a>.Oyo used some of that money for staff expansion, much of it in India, per job postings analyzed by alternative data company Thinknum. In the US, the company has had fewer than 20 job postings since July and is now down to less than 10.Globally, Oyo's job postings have dropped steeply in the last year, from August's high of 775 to 23 currently. Oyo's premise is relatively simple and based on similar short-term rental or hotel booking startups in the United States, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/technology/oyo-softbank-india.html">has been called "SoftBank's jewel in India"</a> for being one of the country's most valuable private companies.Customers can book hotel rooms in more than 80 countries through an app by marketing local hotels as Oyo franchises. The startup then fronts the costs associated with overhauling the often-struggling hotels, including adding things like WiFi and updated interior decorations. In turn, Oyo takes a percentage of every booking. But the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/technology/oyo-softbank-india.html">New York Times reported</a> earlier this month that the startup, and Agarwal in particular, have engaged in questionable business practices to accelerate growth, a common theme among some of SoftBank's hottest investments. The investigation showed that Oyo rented thousands of rooms at unlicensed hotels and guesthouses, and let police and other officials use the service for free to avoid trouble with the authorities.Do you work at Oyo or another SoftBank-backed startup and want to share your story? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (331) 625-2555 using a nonwork phone, email at mhernbroth@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @megan_hernbroth. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-teslas-biggest-threat-2019-12">Why hydrogen cars will be Tesla's biggest threat</a></h3>

Oyo, the 'jewel' in SoftBank's startup portfolio, just announced more layoffs in the U.S. weeks after cutting thousands of jobs in India and China

Service providers like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=oyo+rooms">Oyo Rooms</a>, Foodpanda and Airbnb received a ‘friendly’ query on whether they were paying service tax. 
 
Letters were sent to these aggregators to see if these firms were registered with the tax department. 
 
The Indian government wishes a non-adversarial tax regime that's more welcoming to investors. 
 
One of the officials told ET that most entities had registered themselves and some had sought further clarifications on procedures and processes as the provision dealing with this particular area is fairly new. 
 
Foodpanda confirmed the news. “We did receive a query from the service tax department," a spokesperson said, adding “the authorities have conducted an extensive review of our accounts and have found no irregularities so far. We are registered and duly pay our taxes.” 
 
All aggregators have to pay tax of 14%, excluding the Swachh Bharat cess, which will be levied soon. 
 
As per reports, the service tax revenue has risen 26% in the first seven months of the current fiscal from the year earlier. 
 
As per the government’s provision, any aggregator that has office in India has to pay service tax if the service is so provided using the brand name of the aggregator in any manner.

Service providers like Airbnb, Foodpanda and Oyo Rooms get tax queries

If you thought doing MBA after engineering would have landed you a plum job offer, well only, engineering can also do the same. 
 
Engineers, especially IITians, are a happy lot as startups and emerging e-commerce firms are hiring them for every role in the company, including corporate functions. 
 
Yes, startups like Ola, Oyo Rooms, CarDekho.com, Jabong, etc are hiring more engineers for roles and responsibilities like operations, marketing, business finance, procurement, etc. 
 
This will spell bad news for MBAs as they have always been the first choice for such roles. 
 
Reportedly, Ola is planning to hire 125 IITians for non-tech roles and the taxi hailing service hired 20 such engineers last year. 
 
"IIT graduates are strong analytically and good with numbers. Hence, we approach them for non-tech roles, too," Amit Mathur, director and head of talent acquisition at leading taxi aggregator Ola Cabs, told ET. 
 
Likewise, CarDekho.com will hire more analysts from IITs. 
 
Experts say that engineers are quite adjusting than MBAs and are willing to take more risks and do not expect a comfortable job. 
Many startup owners say they prefer fresh graduates from IITs. 
 
"Start-ups have been telling us this year that they want to increase the number of hires in non-tech/managerial roles. We also expect an upward revision in the compensation being offered for these roles," Babu Vishwanath, advisor - placements at IIT Madras, told ET. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Grim news for MBAs-engineers are eating up marketing, finance jobs too. Thanks to startups!

The booming startup ecosystem in India is definitely good news for the job market in the country. The placement season has seen startups companies flocking the gates of top undergraduate colleges such as <keyword id="6360029" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="LSR">LSR</keyword> and <keyword id="6363378" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SRCC">SRCC</keyword> to offer lofty pay packages. 
	 
	Wonder what are the packages that are being offered to these undergraduates? Well, some are as fat as Rs 29 lakh per year. 
	 For instance, in LSR, the placement has just begun and 65 students have already been placed. Start-ups such as <keyword id="2550719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Rooms">OYO Rooms</keyword>, Vmock and BlueGape have been high on hiring undergraduate students from these colleges. 
	 
	"The placements this year have been phenomenal and definitely a major leap from our performance last year," said Kanika K Ahuja, the placement cell convener at LSR. She added, “By the end of just the first placement season, we have managed to beat our own record of the highest package from last year (Rs 18 lakh) to this season's highest placement of Rs 29 lakh (also highest in the University of Delhi). This is surely one of the best years we have had.” 
	 However, startups aren’t the only ones who are betting big on undergraduates. Seven year old <keyword id="2796775" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Car-Dekho">Car Dekho</keyword> plans to hire 150 college students this season. While companies such as <keyword id="6357341" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deutsche-Bank">Deutsche Bank</keyword>, <keyword id="6372399" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="McKinsey">McKinsey</keyword>, <keyword id="165158" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="AT-Kearney">AT Kearney</keyword>, EY, Grand Thornton has already hired over 200 students from SRCC. The placement cell at SRCC is currently in talks with firms such as Goldman Sachs and Parthenon-EY for placements. 
	 
	Image Credit: Indiatimes.com

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