OYO Rooms names former Coca-Cola exec Dinesh as HR chief

OYO Rooms, India's most funded budget hotels aggregator, has appointed former Coca-Cola executive R Dinesh to the newly created position of chief human resources officer.

"As we build value in our business and expand our geographical footprint, we remain focused on offering a rewarding employee experience. Dinesh's leadership and multi-market roll-out experience will help steer us in the right direction," Ritesh Agarwal, CEO of OYO Rooms (run by Delhi-based Oravel Stays Pvt Ltd), said in a press statement.

Prior to this role, Dinesh served as director of compensation and benefits for the Asia Pacific region at beverage major Coca-Cola. An alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Delhi University, Dinesh has also worked with telecom operator Bharti Airtel.

OYO Rooms was founded in 2012 by then 17-year-old Agarwal. It currently operates in about 165 Indian cities.

The company recently raised $100 million (Rs 635 crore) in a fresh round led by Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Corp.

According to data available with VCCEdge, the research platform of VCCircle, OYO Rooms has raised a total of $117.2 million till date, making it the most funded startup in the Indian budget hotel aggregation space.

Dinesh's appointment comes at a time when OYO Rooms is preparing to acquire its smaller rival, the Tiger Global-backed Zo Rooms.

Moreover, OYO Rooms is now looking at venturing into overseas markets, starting with Malaysia.

OYO Rooms also competes with ZiP Rooms, Wudstay, Vista Rooms, QiK Rooms and other tech platforms for a slice of the growing budget hotels aggregation space. Online travel agencies Yatra, MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo are also making inroads in this space.