Ritesh Agarwal
Agarwal in 2019
Born (1993-11-16) 16 November 1993
Bissam Cuttack, Rayagada, Orissa (now Odisha), India
Occupation(s)CEO and Founder of OYO
Years active2012–present
OrganizationOYO Rooms
Spouse
Geetansha Sood
​
(m. 2023)​
AwardsThiel Fellowship, Business World Young Entrepreneur Award[1]

Ritesh Agarwal is an Indian entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of OYO Rooms.[2]

Personal life

Ritesh Agarwal was born in a Marwari family[3] in Bissam Cuttack, Odisha, India and brought up in Titilagarh.[4][5][6][7][8] His family ran a small shop in Rayagada, Odisha. He graduated from Sacred Heart School, and later St. Johns Senior Secondary School, before moving to Delhi in 2011 for college.[9][10]

Agarwal married Geetansha Sood, a native of Lucknow, on 7 March 2023.[11][12]

Career

In 2011, Agarwal started an Airbnb equivalent called "Oravel Stays".[13][14] Agarwal's enterprise went through the accelerator program Venture Nursery in 2012, and later was one of the winners of the 2013 Thiel Fellowship, receiving a grant of $100,000.[15][16] The company was launched as OYO Rooms in May 2013.[17][18][2]

By September 2018, the company raised $1 billion.[19] In July 2019, it was reported that Agarwal purchased $2 billion in shares in the company, tripling his stake.[20][21][22]

He was featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Asia.[23]

In 2023, He became the youngest Shark to be featured in Shark Tank India[24]

Controversies

Allegations of cheating by Oyo's co-founder

Agarwal is accused of cheating Oyo's co-founder, Manish Sinha, during the early period of the company.[25]

Fine in the United States

Agarwal signed agreements through his company OYO with hotel owners in the US in which the buildings of the owners will be rebranded under the OYO name in exchange of compensation and guarantee income but left out the information that OYO is not authorised to operate franchise business in the state of California for which in March 2019, OYO was fined $200,000 by California regulators. The company also received a cease and desist order from Washington, after regulators found OYO made offers to many hotel owners and managers, without proper registration.[26]

Allegations of fraud

In September 2020, a case was lodged against Agarwal in Dera Bassi by a Chandigarh-based businessman for fraud and conspiracy under IPC 420 (cheating) 120 B (criminal conspiracy).[27]

OYO faced backlash from 10,000 hotel owners in India. According to them, OYO takes up half or more of the revenues through fees that are not disclosed at the time when the hotels join OYO.

According to an October 2019 report, police cases were filed against OYO by hotel operators in Bangalore, Mysore, and other cities of Karnataka accusing Agarwal of fraud. The latter, however, successfully appealed for a stay order on one case in Bangalore.[28]

Television series

References

  1. ↑ "Ritesh Agarwal". Forbes. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 "This is how 24 year-old Ritesh Agarwal built OYO Rooms a $5 billion hotel chain in just five years". The Financial Express. 26 September 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  3. ↑ Chowdhry, Seema; Khurana, Chanpreet (30 November 2013). "Entrepreneurs | The company of teens". Mint. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "Here are 6 interesting facts you didn't know about OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  5. ↑ "21-Yr-Old Start-Up Entrepreneur Ritesh Agarwal Started By Selling SIM Cards In Rayagada". The Times of India. 6 October 2015. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  6. ↑ "His ₹30 lakh stake in Oyo would have been thousands of crores today but..." livemint. 25 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  7. ↑ Chengappa, Sangeetha (25 September 2018). "For OYO's Ritesh Agarwal, there is more room for growth". @businessline. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "OYO raises $1 billion fund: How 24-year-old Ritesh Agarwal turned his idea into India's second most valuable start-up". Firstpost. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  9. ↑ Debusmann, Bernd Jr. "Too many entrepreneurs give up, says Oyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal". ArabianBusiness.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  10. ↑ "Ritesh Agarwal: Interesting facts about oyo founder ritesh agarwal". Business Insider.
  11. ↑ "OYO boss Ritesh Agarwal ties the knot with fiancee Geetansha; Softbank CEO, Paytm boss attend reception". The Economic Times. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Who is OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal's wife, Geetansha Sood? - OYO founder's wife". The Economic Times. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  13. ↑ "If you meet a 17- or 18-year-old entrepreneur, just invest in their firm". 9 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  14. ↑ "Ritesh Agarwal's Cayman based firm to bring funds to Oyo". The Economic Times. 17 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  15. ↑ Menon, Rashmi (19 August 2015). "Meet OYO Rooms' Ritesh Agarwal: The dropout who dined with Peter Thiel". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  16. ↑ Bergen, Mark (10 May 2013). "Oravel founder Ritesh Agarwal wins Thiel Fellowship". Livemint. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "Ritesh Agarwal's OYO, SoftBank set up investment vehicle, seek CCI approval for increasing stake in Oravel Stays". The Financial Express. 16 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  18. ↑ Gooptu, Biswarup (21 November 2018). "OYO manages more rooms in China than in India". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  19. ↑ Bloomberg, Saritha Rai (26 September 2018). "How 24-year-old Ritesh Agarwal built Oyo into a $5 billion startup in just 5 years". www.livemint.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  20. ↑ Chaudhary, Deepti (19 July 2019). "Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal to triple his stake with $2 bn share buyback". Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  21. ↑ "India's Oyo valued at $10B after founder purchases $2B in shares". TechCrunch. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  22. ↑ "OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal to buy back shares from early investors for USD 2 bn - Times of India". The Times of India. 19 July 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  23. ↑ "30 Under 30 2016 Asia: Consumer Tech". Forbes.
  24. ↑ "Shark Tank Indian 3: All you need to know about 29-yr-old Ritesh Agarwal; the youngest Shark to join the panel". The Times of India.
  25. ↑ Mishra, Ashish (7 January 2015). "Will the real Ritesh Agarwal please stand up". Mint. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  26. ↑ Jeans, David (23 April 2020). "Softbank-Backed Hotel Unicorn Oyo Faces Regulatory Smackdown In Multiple U.S. States". Forbes. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  27. ↑ "Oyo founder booked for fraud, company refutes charges". Hindustan Times. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  28. ↑ "Hotel operators who partnered with Oyo call it 'biggest online fraud', demand criminal probe against Softbank-backed startup now poised to raise $1.5 bn". Firstpost. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  29. ↑ "Shark Tank Indian 3: All you need to know about 29-yr-old Ritesh Agarwal; the youngest Shark to join the panel". The Times of India. 7 October 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
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