Airbnb invests in India’s biggest hotel company, hints at partnership

Airbnb has invested between $150 million and $300 million in India’s biggest hotel company, Oyo.

The home sharing giant made the investment in Oyo Home & Hotels’ Series E round, with both companies declining to disclose the exact amount, however media reports indicate it could have been as much as $300 million.

The five-year-old startup, which was valued at about $7 billion in 2018, had raised just under $2.5 billion until this latest development, according to Skift.

Oyo began as a platform to book budget hotels in India but has grown to include 460,000 rooms across eight countries including China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the UK.

“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,” Greg Greeley, president of Homes at Airbnb, said in a statement.

“In many of these markets, OYO is empowering local hospitality entrepreneurs to provide more options to more travellers.”

Airbnb has indicated it is looking for ways to work with Oyo, “including making Oyo accommodations available on the Airbnb platform.”

“Airbnb’s strong global footprints and access to local communities will open up new opportunities for OYO … to strengthen and grow,” Maninder Gulati, OYO’s global strategy head, said in a statement.

The news comes just weeks after Airbnb announced its acquisition of HotelTonight, bringing it one step closer to its goal of becoming an end-to-end travel platform.