OYO mounts The Great Wall, starts China Operations

 Budget hotel aggregator OYO Rooms has begun its operations in China. OYO’s website for China is currently showing seven hotel options in Shenzhen, with price ranging around ¥100 (Chinese Yuan) which nearly equals Rs 1000.This is the fourth overseas market for the company. Last month, it entered Dubai while the company has presence in Malaysia and Nepal.

Sources claims that OYO is also looking for properties in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. The Ritesh Agarwal-led company has partnered China Lodging Group to enter the Chinese market.Eight months ago, the Gurugram-headquartered company had raised $10 million from China Lodging Group. Following the strategic investment, the group and OYO signed a five-year memorandum of cooperation in Shanghai.

After raising $250 million from SoftBank and Hero Enterprise, OYO pivoted from aggregation to a pure-play franchise model in December last year. Presently, OYO claims to operate 8,500 hotels and 70,000 rooms in more than 230 cities in India.

Since its inception in 2013, OYO had raked in about $442 million risk capital from likes of Softbank, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture and Hero Enterprise amongst others. The company also launched its new vertical OYO Townhouse for catering the premium mid-market segment in April last year.


As part of its growth strategy in China, OYO has also hired 60-70 employees to run its operations in the country. Sources told that, both the number of hotels and employee strength are likely to go up “substantially” over the next few months. 

Additionally, the Ritesh Agarwal-founded company has also launched operations in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia that is fast emerging as a destination of choice for Indian startups, particularly the consumer-focused ventures, given the country’s increasing middle-class affluence and strong retail base. 

Dubai Launch

Last month, media reports suggested that OYO was going to begin operations in Dubai soon. A search on the company's website listed two properties from Dubai. The company has hired Manu Midha to head its Middle East business. It is also reportedly looking to hire OYO captain (AGM) in the largest city of UAE.

When the company expanded to Malaysia in 2016, CEO Ritesh Agarwal had said that it would also look at South-East Asia, Africa and South American markets.