[Funding alert] Oyo raises Rs 54 Cr from Hindustan Media Ventures
In September last year, Oyo, which has investors like SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, Airbnb and Hero Enterprise, is reported to have liquidity of about $1 billion in cash and cash equivalent that gives it the room to navigate the business through the unprecedented times.
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Hospitality firm has raised Rs 54 crore from Hindustan Media Ventures as part of Series F1 round, according to a regulatory filing by the company.
Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd subscribed to 125 Series F1 Compulsory Convertible Cumulative Preference Shares (Series F1 CCCPS) of the face value of Rs 100 each for cash at an issue price of Rs 43.2 lakh per Series F1 CCCPS aggregating Rs 54 crore through private placement, according to the filing to Registrar of Companies.
When contacted, the company declined to comment.
The fresh fundraising by the hospitality startup came at a time when it is slowly recovering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, the company had laid off 300 employees, mainly from renovation and operations departments.
In September last year, Oyo, which has investors like SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, Airbnb, and Hero Enterprise, is reported to have liquidity of about $1 billion in cash and cash equivalent that gives it the room to navigate the business through the unprecedented times.
Operating on an asset-light chain of hotels and vacation homes, Oyo has over 43,000 hotels and 1.5 lakh homes around the world in its network. The company operates in over 800 cities in 80 countries, including the US, Europe, the UK, India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Japan.
Hindustan Media Ventures is 74.4 percent owned by HT Media Ltd that publishes newspapers, including the Hindustan Times.
In another development, the hospitality unicorn announced that it will be restoring the salaries of its employees in India and South Asia, a company spokesperson said.
On August 4, during an internal town hall with its employees led by Rohit Kapoor, India CEO, OYO Hotels and Homes, and Dinesh Ramamurthi, CHRO, OYO Hotels and Homes, the company announced that with effect from August 1, 2020, it will be restoring full salaries with a fixed compensation of up to Rs 8 lakh.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)