ritesh agarwal

8/18/2019 Ritesh Agarwal

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Ritesh Agarwal's journey from being a SIM-seller to thehelm of OYO RoomsMadhav Chanchani, ET Bureau Aug 3, 2!", !#2AM IS$

Tags:

• Softbank|

• Ritesh Agarwal|

• OYO Rooms|

• Oravel Stays|• Bejul Somaia

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Softbankhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Ritesh-Agarwalhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/OYO-Roomshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Oravel-Stayshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Bejul-Somaiahttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Ritesh-Agarwalhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/OYO-Roomshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Oravel-Stayshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Bejul-Somaiahttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Softbank


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•

%&or Agarwal, who left(

M)M*AI+ hen Ritesh Agarwal wale. into a meeting with /enture in/estor *ejul Somaia last year, his

ru0sa0 attra0te. imme.iate attention# 1urious as to what the young entrereneur was 0arting aroun.,

Somaia ase. him about it an. was amae. to hear the answer#

&or Agarwal, who left home in O.isha as a teenager to see his fortune, 0arrying all his ossessions

where/er he went was se0on. nature# An. now, as 0ofoun.er of an online aggregator of bu.get hotel

rooms, 0he0ing into a new room e/ery night was also business#

4It hels me get a ulse of what 0ustomers an. hotel owners want an. also gi/es me the 0on/enien0e of

not maintaining a home,4 says the itinerant foun.er whose startu, OYO Rooms, has re0ently raise.

fun.s from 5aan's Soft*an#

Some four years after he lan.e. in 6elhi, Agarwal, who on0e sol. SIM 0ar.s in his hometown, has built

one of the most /aluable Internet startus in In.ia by a 0ollege .roout#

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Ritesh%20Agarwalhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Ritesh%20Agarwalhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Ritesh%20Agarwalhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Bejul%20Somaiahttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/SoftBankhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/SoftBankhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Ritesh%20Agarwalhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Bejul%20Somaiahttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/SoftBank


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$he han.s-on aroa0h is a big reason why Agarwal has been able to aggressi/ely ram u OYO

Roomsfrom fi/e 0ities in 6e0ember 2!7 to 83 0ities now#

49e has a /ery strong gri on all the le/ers of the business# In fi/e minutes he 0an go from a strategi0

0on/ersation to .rilling .own into the minute .etails imortant to a roerty owner,4 sai. Somaia, whose

firm :ightsee. in/este. in OYO in 5anuary 2!7#

Agarwal, hailing from a business family, mo/e. to 6elhi in 2!! to start his entrereneurial journey after

.e0i.ing to si engineering 0ollege entran0e e;ams# 9e ha. also briefly enrolle. in )ni/ersity of

:on.on's In.ia 0amus#

It was when he was !< that he foun.e. Ora/el Stays, whi0h was buil.ing the In.ian /ersion of home

sharing ortal Air*n*# Agarwal got in tou0h with a00elerator =enture>ursery, flew .own to Mumbai an.

got see. fun.ing of aroun. Rs 3 lah after a three-month rogramme#

Agarwal, who staye. at o/er ! be.-an.-breafast rooms while running Ora/el, soon .is0o/ere. that the

roblem for these ortals was not .is0o/ery# 4$he big roblem was that these ortals are not

stan.ar.ise.,4 sai. Agarwal#

It was aroun. the same time that Agarwal be0ame the first In.ian to be 0hosen for $hiel &ellowshi,where he was gi/en ?!, grant by early &a0eboo in/estor an. @ay@al 0ofoun.er @eter $hiel# $he

fellowshi is gi/en to entrereneurs below 2 years of age who si 0ollege for two years to start running

their own business#

4One big learning from $hiel fellowshi was thin really big an. 0reate an ima0t, without thining if

anybo.y has .one it before,4 sai. Agarwal, who .e0i.e. to i/ot the mo.el to OYO Rooms, utting most

of the $hiel grant into the business#

An. in/estors feel that Agarwal has the maturity to buil. an organisation an. e;e0ution 0aabilities# 4I

always thought Ritesh was unusual for his age %or any age( in terms of his 0larity of thought an. urose#

9e embra0es the 0on0et of hiring eole better than him an. gi/ing them the free.om to 0ontribute,4

sai. Somaia, a..ing that e;erien0e. foun.ers also struggle with this#

@erhas as art of his growing u, Agarwal .e0i.e. to mo/e out of OYO to an aartment two months ago#

FEATURED ARTICLES

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Oyo Roomss 2!-year-ol. 1BO raises ?2"M for bu.gethotel latform C)@6A$B6D1omment @rint

Mar 2"#2!"

Ritesh Agarwal is the 2!-year-ol. foun.er of hotel listings startu Oyo Rooms in>ew 6elhi# 9e has just raise. ?2" million %Ruees !" 0rore( from San&ran0is0o-base. Ereenoas 1aital an. e;isting in/estors SeFuoia, 6SE1onsumer @artners, an. :ightSee. =entures#

1ORRB1$IO>+ I originally wrote ?2 million %Ruees !2" 0rore(# Sorry#

*e0oming an !-emloyee 0omany with a ?! million /aluation too time# *utnot mu0h time#

$hree years ago, Agarwal foun.e. Ora/el, a 0lone of eer-to-eer lo.gingwebsite Airbnb# 9e then re0ei/e. a $hiel &ellowshi that ai. him ?!, o/ertwo years to 0reate a start-u#

9e i/ote. to a new business mo.el 0alle. Oyo Rooms, a maretla0e forbran.e. bu.get hotels in southeast Asia#

Oyo Rooms is an In.ian /irtual hositality bran.# It aggregates bu.get hotels an.

guesthouses, maing in/entory .is0o/erable an. booable online# Its bran.ingro/i.es a fran0hise-lie 0onsisten0y of ro.u0t# Its a manage. maretla0e ofroerties#

In 6e0ember 2!2, Oyo Rooms re0ei/e. see. fun.ing# $his was followe. in 5uly2!3 by more see. fun.ing from :ightsee. =enture @artners %:S=@( an. 6SE1onsumer @artners#

In May 2!7 it re0ei/e. about ?G", from SeFuoia 1aital an. :S=@ at a re-money /aluation of ?G million#

http://www.tnooz.com/article/oyo-roomss-21-year-old-ceo-raises-20m-for-budget-hotel-platform/http://oyorooms.com/http://www.greenoakscap.com/http://airbnb.com/http://www.oyorooms.com/http://lsvp.com/https://angel.co/dsg-consumer-partnershttps://angel.co/dsg-consumer-partnershttps://www.sequoiacap.com/indiahttp://www.tnooz.com/article/oyo-roomss-21-year-old-ceo-raises-20m-for-budget-hotel-platform/http://oyorooms.com/http://www.greenoakscap.com/http://airbnb.com/http://www.oyorooms.com/http://lsvp.com/https://angel.co/dsg-consumer-partnershttps://angel.co/dsg-consumer-partnershttps://www.sequoiacap.com/india


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Its un0lear how well the business is a0tually .oing#

OYO Rooms tol. the B0onomi0 $imes that it fa0ilitate. booings for 7",rooms nights in &ebruary# *ut an in/estigation by MI>$ 0laime. that the foun.erhas fibbe. reeate.ly about the a0tual erforman0e of his roje0ts# 9e .eniesthis#

Oyos site to.ay says that, as of mi.-5anuary, it ha. 2 roerties in !! 0itiesa0ross In.ia#

$noo 0ounte. only !82 hotels as liste. roerties on the site to.ay#

1BO Agarwal reson.e. to $noo+

HAs you mentione. that its .iffi0ult to 0onfirm whether we are .oing well, I wante.to reFuest you to 0he0 our Ale;a ran an. traffi0 from 1oms0ore in0lu.ing0hannel of traffi0 an. you. now that we are a large bran.e. networ of bu.gethotels sin0e they woul. be fa0tual by any means# 9ay to sen. s0reenshotsan. lins if nee.e.#

$han you again for the 0o/erage, we are e;0ite. about buil.ing a roosition for guests# An. sol/ing a roblem whi0h has been there but sol/ing it was tough butimortant#

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/7CN7u5d4i3bfYgBAZLdLpM/Will-the-real-Ritesh-Agarwal-please-stand-up.htmlhttp://tnooz.com/http://www.livemint.com/Companies/7CN7u5d4i3bfYgBAZLdLpM/Will-the-real-Ritesh-Agarwal-please-stand-up.htmlhttp://tnooz.com/


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Oyo is uniFue in the maret, but its 0losest 0ometitor is Stayilla, whi0h has ami;e. business mo.el of listing roerties an. rentals, an. whi0h raise. ?!"million in Series * fun.ing last month#

https://www.stayzilla.com/http://www.tnooz.com/article/stayzilla/15/million/dollars/funding/http://www.tnooz.com/article/stayzilla/15/million/dollars/funding/https://www.stayzilla.com/http://www.tnooz.com/article/stayzilla/15/million/dollars/funding/http://www.tnooz.com/article/stayzilla/15/million/dollars/funding/


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OYO Rooms is an In.ian bran. ha/ing a large networ of hotels# OYO Rooms 0urrently oerates in

more than !G In.ian 0ities in0lu.ing Ahme.aba., 6elhi, Eurgaon, 5aiur, Mumbai, *angalore,

9y.eraba., Eoa, 1hennai, Jolata, an. others# OYO is resent in major metros, regional hubs,

leisure .estinations an. ilgrimage towns# $he 0omany's 1BO an. &oun.er, Ritesh Agarwal,

announ0e. OYO's laun0h in Malaysia through a ost on the 0omany's offi0ial blog in 5an 2!G# C!D

A00or.ing to a resear0h 0arrie. out by 1* Insights for The New York Times, OYO Rooms has been

.eeme. as one of the u0oming start-u uni0orns#C2D $he 0omany is ba0e. by in/estors lie

the Softban Erou, Ereenoas 1aital, SeFuoia 1aital an. :ightsee. In.ia#C3D

OYO Rooms ro/i.es stan.ar.ie. hotel rooms with features su0h as an air-0on.itioner, $=,0omlimentary breafast an. i-&i with 27;8 0ustomer ser/i0e suort# $here is also an OYO

Rooms A for guests for booing rooms, or.ering be/erages an. reFuesting room ser/i0e#

Contents

Chi.eD

• ! *usiness Mo.el

• 2 &oun.er

• 3 &un.ing

• 7 Erowth

• " Awar.s

• G :isting of hotels

• 8 *ooing @latforms

• < Referen0es

Business ModelCe.itD

OYO Rooms is a bran.e. networ of hotels# OYO artners with hotels with the aim of

stan.ar.iation on /arious measures in ea0h room in0lu.ing free i&i an. breafast, flat-s0reen

$=s, sotless white be. linen of a 0ertain threa. 0ount, bran.e. toiletries, G-in0h shower hea.s, a

be/erage tray an. so on# $he stan.ar.s are au.ite. e/ery few .ays so that the 0ustomers are

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritesh_Agarwalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Timeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Timeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softbank_Capitalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softbank_Capitalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_Capitalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Roomshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Roomshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Roomshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Business_Modelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Founderhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Fundinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Growthhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Awardshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Listing_of_hotelshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Booking_Platformshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Referenceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritesh_Agarwalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Timeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softbank_Capitalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_Capitalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Roomshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Business_Modelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Founderhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Fundinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Growthhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Awardshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Listing_of_hotelshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Booking_Platformshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#Referenceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=1


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assure. of a Fuality e;erien0e# OYOs bu.get stays range from KKK %?!G( to 7 ruees %?GG(#

OYO ro/i.es roerty owners with suort su0h as Fuality stan.ar.ie. sulies an. ser/i0e

training#C7D

FounderCe.itD

Ritesh Agarwal, is the foun.er an. 1BO of OYO Rooms# Ritesh starte. his entrereneurial journey

when he was !8 years ol.# 9e .roe. out of 0ollege an. laun0he. his first start‐u Ora/el Stays

@/t# :t.# in the year 2!2# C"D Ora/el was .esigne. as a latform to enable listing an. booing of

bu.get an. remium a00ommo.ations# 9e soon realie. that the bu.get hositality se0tor la0e.

re.i0tability# $herefore, he i/ote. Ora/el to OYO Rooms in 2!3 with the ey roosition of

offering affor.able an. stan.ar.ie. a00ommo.ation# CGD

Ritesh was sele0te. for the $hiel &ellowshi, a two-year rogram starte. by @ayal foun.er, @eter

$hiel, in 2!3# $hrough the fellowshi Ritesh re0ei/e. a suort grant of ?!, to ursue his

start-u i.ea#C8D

Ritesh's story has been wi.ely 0o/ere. by the In.ian me.ia# C


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AwardsCe.itD

B;ress I$ Awar.s - Start-u of the Year ,C!KD In.ia International $ra/el Mart Awar. an. :ufthansa B$

>ow Runway to Su00ess Awar.#C2D

Listing of hotelsCe.itD

OYO Rooms rea0hes out to rose0ti/e hotels to artner with them# A hotel owner 0an also rea0h

out to OYO through their webage#C2!D $he OYO team then 0onta0ts the hotel an. au.its the hotel to

un.erstan. the 0hanges nee.e. to stan.ar.ie the roerty as er OYO stan.ar.s, an. shares

other .etails of the artnershi agreement#

OYO is now a0ti/e in more than !G 0ities a0ross In.ia an. growing rai.ly#

Booking PlatformsCe.itD

OYO Rooms 0an be booe. from multile latforms, in0lu.ing the OYO Rooms A

on An.roi. an. in.ows @hone#C22D A erson 0an also login to their website to boo a room#
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=5https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-19https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-19https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-19https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-20https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-21https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(Operating_System)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(Operating_System)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Phonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-22https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-19https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-20https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-21https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OYO_Rooms&action=edit&section=7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(Operating_System)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Phonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OYO_Rooms#cite_note-22

ritesh agarwal

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