The Gurugram-based startup began the year as a unicorn, and continued to hit new highs in the months that followed. It started by hiring former Indigo CEO Aditya Ghosh as India and South Asia CEO, and growing its international operations. Despite a cheating case being lodged against Ritesh Agarwal, OYO continued to march ahead to capture the hospitality industry.
This year, it took its homestay vertical, OYO Homes, to Dubai, expanded its operations in Philippines, and entered the US market. Apart from expanding in China, Southeast Asia, and the US, OYO pumped in 300 million euros into the European market. It also launched hotel operations in Japan in a joint venture with SoftBank.
The startup acquired holiday home network Belvilla in Amsterdam. It also entered the $3 billion coworking market with the acquisition of Gurugram-based co-working space Innov8 for Rs 220 crore. After completing one year of OYO Life, the company looked to expand deeper into student accommodation. It also acquired Copenhagen-based data science company Danamica and expanded into Latin America markets.
The startup worked its way into the cloud-kitchen space as well with a small experiment. It is now set to launch its own coffee chain The French Press.
OYO and Founder Ritesh Agarwal have been in news this year for buying back stake worth $1.2 billion from one of their largest investors, SoftBank.
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