Hospitality unicorn OYO appoints new CTO, strengthens its global leadership team
Hospitality unicorn OYO has appointed Ankit Mathuria as its new CTO. Ankit succeeds Anil Goel, who will now continue to counsel OYO as an advisor.
SoftBank-backed hospitality chain Hotels and Homes has announced new appointments and elevations across its global leadership in verticals, including technology, supply, and product.
In a release, the unicorn said these developments are aligned with the unicorn's commitment to delivering an enhanced customer, partner, and employee experience as it emerges as a resurgent brand in 2021.
Speaking on the development, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group CEO, OYO Hotels and Homes said,
“2021 will be the year of OYO’s resurgence, as we focus on building best-in-class products and experience for our guests, partners, employees, and all stakeholders of the OYO ecosystem. Strong leadership has always been instrumental at OYO to make an impact and succeed by enhancing our operational efficiency, brand love, and profitability. I am confident that these leaders will keep inspiring OYOpreneurs all around the world. I’m looking forward to the OYO we will build together.”
According to the OYO blog post, Ankit Mathuria has been appointed as the startup's new CTO. Ankit succeeds Anil Goel, who will now continue to counsel OYO as an advisor.
Ankit Mathuria will bring over 15 years of in-depth technical knowledge to the unicorn. He has spent the last seven years at Amazon in multiple businesses, with the last one as CTO for Souq — an Amazon subsidiary — in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Chief Business Development Officer Ayush Mathur will become the Global Chief Supply Officer. Global COO Abhinav Sinha will now be the interim Chief Product Officer, in addition to his existing role, while Chief Growth Officer Kavikrut will jointly lead the global brand and communications teams.
OYO China CEO Gautam Swaroop will now lead OYO International, which will also include the US and EU markets. Swaroop will be supported by Prasun Choudhary, who has been appointed as the President of OYO International. Rishabh Gupta — the current Head of EU hotels — will now lead the global capital and positioning strategy.
OYO China CFO Della Zhang and CHRO Jessie Yang have been elevated to oversee both China and Europe business, and OYO China Head Ping Wang will take charge as the President and COO for China market.
Sharad Saxena, who takes over from Harshit Vyas, will be the SVP and COO for the startup in India and South Asia, while Abhinav Ankur will be the SVP, and Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer.
OYO Vacation Homes (OVH) CPO Rahul Sahni, OVH Europe CFO Deepak Goyal, and OYO SEAME COO Guruprasad Sankaranarayanan are also being promoted to Senior Vice Presidents, in addition to their new positions. The Chief of Business Performance Management Varun Jain will now be the SVP for the segment, and Vineet Pandita will be elevated as the SVP for Engineering from the VP position.
Edited by Suman Singh