Oyo secures funding from Hindustan Media Ventures

SoftBank-backed hospitality chain Oyo has raised Rs 54 crore ($7.4 million) in fresh funding from Hindustan Media Ventures amid signs of recovery in the sector badly hit by pandemic.

The development was first reported by the Press Trust of India.

The firm, which is run by Oravel Stays Pvt. Ltd, operates more than 18,000 franchised and leased hotels in more than 500 cities across 10 countries including India, China, Malaysia, the UK, the UAE and Indonesia.

In October 2019, Oyo raised $1.5 billion in a Series F funding round from existing investors and founder Ritesh Agarwal.

Agarwal had said in July 2019 that he would deploy $2 billion to boost his stake in the hospitality platform by subscribing to fresh shares and buying shares from some existing investors. 

Besides SoftBank, Oyo counts among its investors Singaporean ride-hailing company Grab, home-rental startup Airbnb, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital and Greenoaks Capital.

Mumbai-listed Hindustan Media Ventures is 74.4% owned by HT Media Ltd, the operator of newspaper brands such as Hindustan Times, according to stock-exchange data. In July last year, HT Media acquired Mosaic Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd, the operator of VCCircle.com, from News Corp.