OYO Rooms offers rooms for Rs 1,200-5,500 in all major cities.
'Today, we are at a stage where we have launched a voice-to-voice model that supports 14 Indian languages.'
SoftBank-backed OYO now 100,000 rooms brand, eyes another 100,000 by Mar 1
Tech giant Microsoft Corporation has invested nearly $5 million (about Rs 37 crore) in OYO through the issuance of equity shares and compulsory convertible cumulative preference shares on a private placement basis by the latter, according to a regulatory filing by the hospitality chain. An extraordinary general meeting of Oravel Stays Pvt Ltd (OYO), which runs the OYO Rooms chain of hotels, on July 16 approved issue of the equity shares and Series F2 compulsory convertible cumulative preference shares (Series F2 CCCPS) for "an aggregate consideration amounting to rupee equivalent of $4,971,650 to Microsoft Corporation on a private placement basis", as per an RoC filing by the company.
Oravel Stays - which operates hospitality tech firm OYO - on Friday pre-filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with stock market regulator Sebi, sources said. Sources close to the company told PTI, OYO may launch its initial public offering (IPO) around Diwali this year. Unlike the traditional route where companies have to launch the IPO within 12 months from the Sebi approval, or final observation; in the pre-filing route, an IPO can be floated within 18 months from the date of Sebi's final comments.
India's hospitality sector is rolling out the red carpet for investors. A flurry of upcoming IPOs, or initial public offerings, the entry of new players, and ambitious expansion plans by Indian and global hotel brands are ushering in what could be the industry's most formalised era yet. Leading the charge are real estate titans, who are turning their hotel arms into global hospitality chains.
The company's growth is fuelled by its success in China with presence in 337 cities with over 500,000 rooms, followed by growth in Indonesia with presence in 80 cities and over 20,000 rooms and other regions in Asia
'Co-living is a phenomenon that is bound to strike the right chord with young people everywhere and India will lead the charge as the testing ground for all such ideas.'
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday closed insolvency proceedings against Oyo and one of its subsidiaries, and also disallowed the intervention of external parties including Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI). Industry body FHRAI said in May it has been allowed by the NCLAT to intervene on behalf of hotels in the Oyo unit insolvency case before the tribunal. The association had filed the application on behalf of its member hotels in India, who it said at the time are operational creditors suffering hugely on account of non-payments of debt by Oyo.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday stayed a Rs 169 crore penalty imposed on Oravel Stays Ltd by the competition commission of India (CCI). Oravel Stays Ltd operates under the brand name Oyo. However, a two-member NCLAT bench while admitting the appeal filed by Oravel Stays Ltd (OSL) directed to deposit of 10 per cent of the penalty amount within six weeks.
Zostel could get upwards of $600 million if arbitration goes through.
Hospitality firm OYO will be shifting to a 4-day work week, OYO founder and group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said in a tweet on Wednesday, as the company also launched a no questions asked flexible infinite paid leaves initiative. Agarwal in a tweet noted that COVID-19 continues to test the physical and mental well-being of people. One thing that truly matters is having more time for our loved ones and ourselves.
Currently, the company is present in over 259 Indian cities, with over 8,700 buildings (hotels and homes) and more than 173,000 rooms.
This is the second time in less than six months that the fair trade watchdog has called for an investigation against the two entities after finding prima-facie evidence of violation of competition norms.
Ritesh Agarwal, founder of Oyo Hotels and Homes, seems to be making all the right moves. In a quick chat with Karan Choudhury and Neha Alawadhi, Agarwal explains the moves he has made in the past 12 months to make his operations global.
Responding to a purported viral video on social media that shows a man allegedly being denied reservation in the hotel as he is from the union territory, OYO said, 'We are appalled that this happened. We have taken the hotel off from our platform immediately.'
Ghosh, 43, will be reporting to 25-year-old Ritesh Agarwal, who founded OYO with a single hotel in 2013.
This e-series funding round also makes OYO the most valued hospitality company in the country, ahead of the Tata group's Indian Hotels Company, which owns the Taj brand of hotels, and EIH, which owns the Oberoi brand of hotels.
Aggregators provide standardised amenities and predictability of services, whereas online travel agents give wider choices and packaged travel deals.
In a 26-page order, the fair trade regulator said there exists a prima-facie case for investigation against MMT-Go and OYO for alleged violation of the provisions of Section 3(4) of the Competition Act.
'Customer expectation and need was quite limited when we started in 2013.' 'Now the expectation is little more and a lot of hard work is needed again.'
With Nikesh Arora's exit from Softbank, India's start-ups have lost one of its biggest supporters.
The company has already put in place this digital register in Jaipur in Rajasthan and pilot projects are running in Haryana and Telangana
Experts believe more efforts would be needed in future funding rounds.
As the clip went viral on social media, hospitality firm OYO took off from its platform the hotel located in north Delhi's Jahangirpuri.
Internshala is inviting applications from students, freshers across the country.
How many 22 year olds gets the ears and eyes of Yogi Deveshwar, Kumarmangalam Birla, Shashi Ruia, T V Narendran and Naveen Patnaik?
Online travel portals are flooded with flight and train bookings, hotels teeming with requests for accommodation, and spiritual merchandise on e-commerce platforms is selling like hotcakes. As the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22 draws near, Indians across the country are putting their travelling boots on as the temple frenzy catches on. India's largest travel technology (traveltech) platform MakeMyTrip (MMT) has witnessed a substantial four-fold increase in bookings for Ayodhya compared to the previous year.
Nikesh Arora has an engineering degree in electronics and worked for a brief period at Wipro, selling computers.
Start-ups that did not have a business model and, hence, could not grow or attract new funding, are shutting shop.
Indian startups have raised $42 billion in 2021, up from $11.5 billion in the previous year, a report by Orios Venture Partners said. The report titled 'The Indian Tech Unicorn Report 2021' said India saw 46 unicorns (companies with $1 billion valuations) in 2021 alone, more than doubling the total number of unicorns to 90. These include ShareChat, Cred, Meesho, Nazara, Moglix, MPL, Grofers (now Blinkit), upGrad, Mamaearth, GlobalBees, Acko, Spinny and others. India - with 90 unicorns - is the third-largest unicorn hub behind the US (487) and China (301), and ahead of the UK (39).
Taizo Son, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's youngest brother, is also planning to enter India.
Japanese tech investor SoftBank may end up investing around $1 billion in India in 2022, nearly a third of what it did last year, according to people closely tracking its plans. Last year, SoftBank undertook investments of $3.2 billion in 12 deals. In the first five months of CY22, the giant investor has invested $400-500 million in five deals.
With the Ram Mandir scheduled to open its doors to visitors in January, Ayodhya is expected to welcome travelers both from India and abroad.
With the 21 unicorns collectively valued at $73.2 billion, India is the fourth biggest in terms of unicorns, behind the US, China and the UK, as per the Hurun Global Unicorn List.
As per market estimates, the new round would value the city-based firm at about $ 4-5 billion.
'With Ramaland, the tourism department is looking to attract children and adults alike. It'll be learning with entertainment.'
The net worth of India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, dropped 28 per cent, or USD 300 million a day for two months to USD 48 billion as on March 31 due to the massive correction in stock markets, a report said on Monday. The chairman and managing director of the diversified Reliance Industries saw his wealth decline by USD 19 billion (app Rs 144,400 crores) in the February-March period, taking his global ranking down eight places to 17th, the Hurun Global Rich List said.
Investments totaling over $9.5 billion in Jio Platforms by a clutch of private equity firms, following social media giant Facebook's $5.7 billion mid-April investment in the company, helped overall.
The Microsoft chief's comments come in the wake of Bill Gates' call for levying taxes on robots that take away jobs from people.