OYO India CEO, Europe Head Step Down Ahead Of IPO

As OYO gears up for its anticipated IPO, the company has seen the departure of key executives. Ankit Gupta, OYO’s India CEO, and Mandar Vaidya, the head of OYO Europe, have both opted to leave the hospitality and travel tech unicorn.

“Ankit Gupta and Mandar Vaidya moved on from their roles six months ago (in March 2023). We are proud of their achievements at OYO and are thankful for their leadership,” an OYO spokesperson told Inc42.

The traveltech unicorn elevated Gupta as CEO of India from his position of CEO, Hotels and Homes -India, last year. On the other hand, Vaidya assumed the role of Europe CEO in 2021.

“Both roles were already transitioned 6 months ago to Varun Jain, as COO India, and, Gautam Swaroop, as CEO OYO Vacation Homes, respectively,” the spokesperson added.

Earlier this year, the hospitality unicorn underwent a major management reshuffle, which included assigning additional responsibilities to founder Ritesh Agarwal’s core team. As part of the rejig, OYO International CEO Gautam Swaroop took over allied businesses at OYO, including Weddingz. The company also changed the role of COO Abhinav Sinha to chief product and technology officer.

Late last year, market regulator SEBI asked OYO to refile its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) by updating all relevant sections, such as risk factors, KPIs, and outstanding litigations, after the company submitted its financial results for the first half of FY23 by filing an addendum.

OYO first filed DRHP for IPO in September 2021, initially aiming to raise INR 8,430 Cr ($1.2 Bn). However, it later took the confidential route to pre-file its draft documents and cut the IPO size to $400 Mn – $600 Mn (INR 3,286 Cr – INR 4,929 Cr).

In an internal town hall in July, Oravel Stays Ltd, the parent entity of hospitality chain OYO, claimed that it registered an adjusted EBITDA of about INR 175 Cr in the first quarter of the financial year 2023-2024 (FY24).

“Our Q1 adjusted EBITDA of around INR 175 Cr makes it an exciting start to the year. If you annualise this outcome, it sets us up for INR 700 Cr adjusted EBITDA this financial year, though, in all likelihood, we will achieve or probably surpass our previously stated target of INR 800 Cr,” OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal told the employees.