India’s Oyo raises $700m in ongoing Series F
Indian hotel platform Oyo has raised $700 million from RA Hospitality Holdings, an entity controlled by founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal, as part of a Series F round targeting $1.5 billion.
The remaining $800 million is expected to come from existing investors. Earlier this year, RA Hospitality received regulatory approval to invest $2 billion in the company. It is reportedly seeking to raise its stake from 10% to 30%.
It follows a $100 million investment from Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing in February that closed a $1 billion Series E and valued Oyo at around $5 billion. The valuation rose to $10 billion five months later as early backers Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed Venture Partners realized partial exits by selling an undisclosed number of shares to Agarwal.
Previous investors also include SoftBank Vision Fund, which led the Series E, Singapore’s DSG Consumer Partners, and ride-hailing player Grab, US-based Greenoaks Capital, India’s VentureNusery and Hero Cycles, and US hospitality giant Airbnb. A significant part of the latest investment will be applied to an ongoing expansion effort in the US as well as the development of a vacation rentals business in Europe.
Founded in 2013, Oyo provides budget hotel owners with a platform to market their rooms to travelers. The company’s portfolio includes more than 35,000 hotels and 125,000 vacation homes, and over 1.2 million rooms, globally. It also operates its own line of accommodations under the Townhouse brand, offering a premium experience at properties leased and managed by Oyo.
According to a statement, Oyo is operating profitably at the building level and has improved EBITDA by 50% on a year-on-year basis. The company claims to have recorded 3.8x year-on-year revenue growth in August.
“The growth across verticals in India and globally has been phenomenal and we truly believe that we will be able to build a truly global brand out of India, while ensuring that the business is run efficiently and with a clear path to profitability,” Agarwal said.
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