OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal lists new VC vehicle Aroa

Budget hospitality chain OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal has registered a new investment vehicle called Aroa Ventures in Singapore, according to the new entity’s website.

The SoftBank-backed entrepreneur’s latest commercial interest expects to attract growth-stage businesses in the consumer, technology, and leisure infrastructure sectors, with proven unit economics and high potential to scale. 

“We are partial to businesses that have the ability to create disproportionate value through adjacencies. We invest between $500,000 and $5 million,” the website read.

Gaurav Gulati, who is the former chief operating officer at Innov8, heads the firm alongside Agarwal, as per the website. Gulati has been the chief investment officer at Aroa since July 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Innov8 was acquired by OYO in 2019, reportedly for $30 million. Prior to the stint at Innov8, Gulati had co-founded a corporate food services company called Purist that was acquired by Cure.Fit.

The investment team at Aroa, according to the website, consists of a team of serial entrepreneurs and experienced professionals.

Aroa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Agarwal’s other investment vehicles include RA Hospitality Holdings, which was used to buy a $1.5 billion worth OYO stake from early backers Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Ventures, and RACo Holding Company.

The development was first reported by Entrackr on Wednesday.

Aroa is sponsored by RACo Holding Company. It was initially registered with Agarwal and Thomas Hufnagel as two shareholders, the report said, citing regulatory filings made in Singapore in 2019.