After Southeast Asia, OYO is all set to take on the US, tests property in Texas

OYO is reportedly testing a property in Texas and plans to add around 2,000 hotels in different states this year if the testing becomes successful.

Hospitality unicorn OYO is reportedly all set to enter the US budget hotel market, having opened an office in Dallas, and testing a property in Austin, Texas, according to a report in The Information. The article said that the startup is reported to be testing a property in Texas and plans to add around 2,000 hotels in different states this year if everything works according to plan. It also quoted an official spokesperson as saying they were in the "early stages" of expanding into the US market and appreciated the "competitive nature of franchising and uniqueness of the USA".

YourStory has reached out to OYO for a comment but had not heard back at the time of publication.

Fintech giant Paytm’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma also tweeted his congratulations to OYO Founder Ritesh Agarwal on the company entering the US hotel market.

Other media reports quoted sources claiming that the company has started to renovate motels and no-frills hotels around Texas. Last month, OYO had officially announced its launch in the Philippines by planning to start its operations with over 21 franchised and leased hotels.

With its first international foray in 2016, the six-year-old startup now has a presence in 500 cities in seven countries, including India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, Indonesia, the UK, and the UAE.

OYO has in its fold over 13,000 franchised or leased hotels, and over 3,000 homes are part of the chain. Last September, it locked in $1 billion in funding from SoftBank Vision Fund, with participation from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia and Greenoaks Capital. The round catapulted it into the 'unicorn' club, valuing it at over $1 billion. It also received an additional commitment of $200 million. The company is also backed by investors like the China Lodging Group and Hero Enterprises.

OYO's most recent filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) showed a three-fold rise in annual revenue - from Rs 120 crore in FY 2017, the company clocked a whopping 245 percent rise to finish FY 2018 with a top line of Rs 415 crore.