Indian budget hotel chain OYO Hotels & Homes said it earmarked USD 100 million to be invested in Indonesia to strengthen its presence in the country. This represents half of OYO’s intended USD 200 million investment in Southeast Asia that will be channeled within the next two years.
Indonesia is the key to OYO’s growth in Southeast Asia and globally, according to Ritesh Agarwal, the firm’s founder and group CEO, as quoted in an official statement.
In less than one year of operating in the country, OYO claims to have partnered with over 1,000 hotels and 27,000 rooms in 100 cities. Moreover, there are 1,200 hotel owners who have joined the OYO’s network. According to the firm, it is ahead of its initial plan to expand into 100 cities by the end of this year.
The company launched its OYO Partner Engagement Network yesterday, an initiative for its partners in Indonesia to reach their business goals. The program consists of four core commitments which include transparent payment protocols, access to financing options for partners through banks and other financial institutions, marketing support, as well as technology and innovation support.
With its young population and growing economy, Southeast Asia is a hot market for budget travel and accommodation where OYO is challenging incumbents like ZEN Rooms and Reddoorz.
OYO has raised USD 1.7 billion from SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Airbnb, Grab and Didi Chuxing, according to Crunchbase. Meanwhile, ZEN Rooms raised a total of USD 23 million and RedDoorz raised USD 69.4 million. The total capital of both companies only makes up 5% of OYO’s, granted the latter is spreading its funds across a global operation.
OYO took its first step in Southeast Asia via Malaysia in January 2016. Most recently, the chain officially launched in Vietnam in July 2019, rolling out potentially a USD 50 million investment in the country. OYO claimed to have already over 90 hotel partners across six major cities in Vietnam and it aims to become the largest hotel chain in the country by the end of 2020 with presence in 10 cities and 20,000 rooms.
