Airbnb Invests in Indian Startup OYO

US Biggies Shopping in India

Airbnb world’s largest home stay company has invested $200 mn in hospitality chain aggregator Oyo Hotels & Homes. This is third successive strategic investor to buy stake in OYO. The interesting part of the deal, Oyo is also likely to list its properties on Airbnb platform. 

Now the funding valued  Indian company little over $5 billion. OYO’s leading investors include SoftBankJapan, SoftBank has poured millions of dollars into OYO, largely from the huge Vision Fund it launched with Saudi Arabia.

Airbnb is growing faster in southeast asia, India and china are key markets for future growth & Oyo is expanding its foot prints in china and already is in top 5 hotel chains in China. It’s a strategic move, OYO too looking for expansion in southeast asia and trying to hook with GRAB to break into the region.

Many Startups are looking to raise funds and world is looking in India for opportunity to invest.

Airbnb’s president of homes, Greg Greeley, said in a statement “Emerging markets like India and China are some of Airbnb’s fastest-growing, with our growth increasingly powered by tourism to and from these markets. In many of these markets, OYO is empowering local hospitality entrepreneurs to provide more options to more travelers. We share a dedication to offering people more choices when traveling and we’re excited to partner with OYO as we work to make Airbnb for everyone,”

“Airbnb’s strong global footprints and access to local communities will open up new opportunities for OYO Hotels & Homes to strengthen and grow while staying true to our core value proposition. We’re excited by the possibilities and committed to bringing benefits to the millions of travelers who can now rely on Airbnb and OYO Hotels & Homes to find a home away from home,” added Maninder Gulati, global chief strategy officer for OYO.

Its been a long journey for OYO and we can sense how eagerly US Biggies are investing in India. Earlier it was Walmart Shopping Flipkart and news of Berkshire investing in PAYTM is signalling a healthy trend.