OYO Promotes Rakesh Kumar As Deputy CFO Ahead Of IPO

IPO-bound hospitality chain OYO has promoted Rakesh Kumar to the position of deputy chief financial officer (deputy CFO) of the company.

In the role, Kumar will be responsible for overseeing critical operational finance functions, including treasury, controllership, shared services, business finance, taxation, financial planning and analysis (FP&A) and execution of results, compliance, and timely audits across the organisation, OYO said in a statement.

He joined the hospitality unicorn over five years ago as the head of financial reporting. During the challenging period of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kumar played a pivotal role in ensuring timely audits and maintaining the company’s financial health, said OYO.

Furthermore, as per the startup, his leadership led to successful execution of over 10 equity and debt raises of the company.

Besides his finance function, Kumar also took on other business partnering roles and led the transition of acquisitions within OYO, including the two European organisations – Direct Booker and Bornholmske Feriehuse, the company said.

Kumar will continue to report to OYO CFO Abhishek Gupta.

“From spearheading our financial reporting efforts to leading complex acquisitions and driving our finance function’s strategic transformation, his dedication and expertise have played an instrumental role in the growth of the company,” said Gupta.

Founded in 2013 by Ritesh Agarwal, OYO today offers over 40 integrated products and solutions to patrons who operate almost 1.7 lakh hotels and home storefronts in more than 35 countries including India, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

After being a loss-making entity so far, the startup, like most others, has been aggressively looking to become profitable. In an internal mail sent to the leadership team last month, Agarwal said OYO would mark its “maiden profitable quarter” with an expected profit of INR 16 Cr in Q2 FY24.

Sources told Inc42 that the company saw an improvement in its financials on the back of a growing focus on core markets, centralisation of key functions, cost optimisation initiatives, divestment, and rationalisation of non-core businesses.

In Q1 FY24, OYO told its employees about achieving an adjusted EBITDA of about INR 175 Cr.

OYO initially filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI in September 2021 for a $1.2 Bn IPO. However, it took the confidential route earlier this year to pre-file its draft documents and cut the IPO size to $400-$600 Mn.