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Japan's SoftBank Group invests Rs 413 crore in Oyo rooms

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:47 IST

At a time when investors are doubtful of investing in Indian start ups, budget hotel aggregator Oyo, has raised Rs 413 crore from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp.

However, none of its investors - Greenoaks Capital, Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners - took part in the fresh bid for funds. Since Nikesh Arora's resignation from SoftBank Group Corp., this is the first time that the Japanese company has invested in an Indian start-up.

Owned by Oravel Stays Pvt. Ltd, Oyo's had plans to raise 100 million dollars and also was looking to buy back shares from existing investors for around Rs 60 crore, Livemint reported.

However, amidst rising concerns about the valuations of start-ups, SoftBank along with Tiger Global Management, DST Global, Falcon Edge Capital and Steadview Capital, have scaled down investments in India this year. SoftBank has championed Indian start-ups since 2014, backing e-commerce platform Snapdeal, ride-hailing service Ola and real estate website Housing.com.

Between October and December 2014, SoftBank invested about $1 billion in these three companies and committed another $10 billion to India in the next 10 years. The company subsequently invested in Snapdeal, Ola and Oyo in 2015, Livemint reported.

Oyo, in its last few years, has expanded its focus from budget hotel aggregation to offering holiday packages encompassing transportation, other assisted services and local activities.

Oyo claims to operate in more than 170 Indian cities. The company currently claims to have 68,300 rooms across 5,855 partner hotels in India and aims to triple the inventory by the end of 2016.

First published: 16 August 2016, 1:30 IST