Ritesh Agarwal, a Thiel Fellow, has reportedly raised funds worth 25 million dollars from Lightspeed, Sequoia and others, making it the largest round of funding till date for the fellowship.
The funds will be used to build a network of branded budget hotels across India. Titled OYO Rooms, the firm will team up with property owners across India and make sure that their facilities met a slew of requirements from linen quality to breakfast to Internet access for a starting price of 999 rupees or 16 dollars a night, reported TechCrunch.
Agarwal noted that while the west had chains like Best Western or Ibis, the Indian hotel market was still facing a dearth of budget hotels.
The firm has booked nearly 60,000 stays so far since it started two years ago. They have teamed up with more than 200 hotels across 10 cities in India and plan to expand in size with a network of 1,000 hotels in 25 cities by the end of the year.