- Oyo Rooms raises $800 Mn from SoftBank & other existing investors
- It has also received commitment for additional $200 Mn funding
- It has become the first hospitality company to join the unicorn club
- Company will use large parts of funds for expanding business in China
India’s biggest budget hotel chain startup Oyo Rooms has raised $800 Mn from its largest investor SoftBank. Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia and Greenoaks Capital also participated in the funding round.
Oyo rooms has also received commitment to secure additional funding of $200 Mn, the company said in a press release statement. Sources within the company claimed that this additional $200 Mn funding will be mostly pumped by SoftBank.
The Gurugram based startup has not disclosed at what valuation it has raised the latest funding. However, if sources are to be believed, the company has raised the latest funding at a market valuation of approximately $3-$4 billion.
This is a fivefold increase over Oyo Room’s previous market valuation. More importantly, the drastic increase in market valuation has propelled the company into the coveted unicorn club. It has now become the first hospitality company to achieve this coveted status.
Oyo Rooms will use large parts of latest funds for expanding in China
In a press statement, Oyo Rooms has said that it will use large part of the latest funding, approximately $600 Mn, for consolidating its position in China. This is necessary since its business is still in early stages of growth in the world’s most populated country, the company added.
Oyo claims that it currently operates almost 87,000 rooms across 171 Chinese cities. The company has also recently launched operations in U.K in yet another signal that it is going full throttle for expanding its international operations.
Here is short video where Oyo Rooms founder & CEO Ritesh Agarwal sheds light on his inspirational entrepreneurial journey.