OYO appoints former IndiGo boss Aditya Ghosh as CEO for India, South Asia ops

Budget hospitality chain OYO on Thursday announced the appointment of Aditya Ghosh, the former president of budget carrier IndiGo, as chief executive officer to head its operations in India and South Asia.

OYO said in a statement that Ghosh will join the company on December 1 and report to founder and group chief executive Ritesh Agarwal.

“As we grow our business, we feel it is essential to continue to invest in building one of the most influential leadership teams and bringing in professionals with an entrepreneurial mind set and from diverse backgrounds that can help lead the next wave of growth at OYO,” said Agarwal.

Ghosh, who had resigned as president and whole-time director of IndiGo in April this year, said in the statement that he has witnessed OYO’s journey from a startup to a unicorn — a company valued at more than $1 billion. 

OYO said Ghosh’s mandate currently includes its India and Nepal operations. Other markets in the area will be included once they go live, it added.

After securing $1 billion in fresh funding two months ago in a deal that valued the firm at $5 billion, OYO has been expanding to multiple countries in recent weeks. 

Since the fundraise was announced, the Gurugram-headquartered firm has set foot in UAE and Indonesia. It also has operations in UK and Malaysia. 

The majority of its fresh capital will go towards funding OYO’s expansion plans in China.

OYO, operated by Gurugram-headquartered Oravel Stays Pvt. Ltd, claims to have a presence in over 350 cities with more than 12,000 asset owners spread across six countries.

Last month, OYO announced that it was entering the home rental segment, too.

OYO has been on an acquisition spree of late, snapping up three startups this year — online marketplace Weddingz.in, Internet of Things (IoT) technology company AblePlus Solutions Pvt. Ltd and service apartment company Novascotia Boutique Homes.