OYO grabs Series D funding of $250M led by SoftBank Vision Fund

OYO, the Gurgaon-based hospitality platform, has raised Series D funding of $250 million led by SoftBank through SoftBank Vision Fund. Existing investors Lightspeed Ventures, Greenoaks Capital, and Sequoia India participated in this round. Hero Enterprise also joined this round as an investor.

Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprise, says that OYO’s business model excited them and thus they chose to invest in the company.

In a statement released by the company, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, OYO, said they would utilise the funds to further accelerate network coverage through their marketplace model OYO Rooms and for aggressive growth of their recently launched OYO Townhouse.

“We will also deploy fresh capital to take our made-in-India business model to international markets which are characterised by a similar supply-demand imbalance in real estate and hospitality,” said Ritesh.

OYO is the second major bet placed by SoftBank Vision Fund, the world’s largest pool of private capital, in the past two months. With this funding round, OYO’s valuation is pegged to be $850–900 million, which a significant push from $460 million last August.

Justin Wilson, SoftBank’s board representative on OYO said in a press statement, “OYO has solidified its position in India as the leading accommodation brand for consumer affordability and high-quality standards. We're excited to continue to support OYO as they further expand their position in India and bring the OYO promise of affordability and elevated hospitality to other markets around the world."

When OYO launched Townhouse in Bengaluru this May, it had a plan of 25 townhouses across different locations in the city and over 250 townhouses across 12 cities by the end of the year.

According to reports, the OYO marketplace presently competes with the likes of MakeMyTrip. Townhouse, OYO's way of stabilising in the market, competes directly with the likes of Matrix-backed Treebo Hotels.