OYO Rejigs Operations, Tech, Revenue Leadership To Drive International Biz

Hospitality unicorn OYO has initiated a major overhaul in its top leadership, promoting five executives across technology, product, strategy, operations and distribution verticals.

To start with, Sonal Sinha has been appointed as the chief operating officer of OYO’s international business, said the company, in a statement.

Sinha joined OYO in 2015 and previously served as chief financial officer for the international business. She is said to be critical to OYO’s success in the US market post the pandemic.

Further, Rachit Srivastava has been elevated to the position of COO of OYO’s vacation homes business in Europe. He will be taking over from Ayush Mathur, who is leaving the company to start his own venture.

Shashank Jain will take over as head of technology and online revenue for the global business. He previously led product development for customer acquisition and retention, and is credited with leading app development for DanCenter and Belvilla, two of OYO’s brands in Europe.

Meanwhile, Pankhuri Sakhuja, who had been overseeing OYO workspaces vertical and hotel acquisition for some overseas markets, will now lead German home listings business Traum and coworking platform Innov8. 

The hospitality major has also announced that Abhinav Sinha, Global COO and chief product officer, will be moving to an advisory role, effective January 2025. Sinha is looking to launch his own startup, as per the company.

Further, OYO has promoted Ashish Bajpai to head of revenue & global OTA. In his current role, Bajpai will lend his expertise in driving OYO’s revenue growth through both direct and indirect channels and increasing the visibility and distribution of the group’s hotels and homes worldwide.

Commenting on the top deck rejig, founder and CEO Agarwal said, “As we pursue our growth objectives, agility and decisive action remain at the core of our strategy. Our leaders are continuously adapting and expanding their roles to stay ahead of the evolving market dynamics and drive our business forward.”

OYO is looking to go public as soon as next year, after shelving its plans twice. The company plans to refile its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI after completing the ongoing refinancing of its $660 Mn Term Loan B.

The company turned profitable in FY24 as it managed to trim its expenses by cutting employee costs and growing its top line. The unicorn posted a net profit of INR 229.5 Cr in FY24 as against a net loss of INR 1,286.5 Cr in the previous financial year.

Going ahead, OYO is looking to expand its premium inventory as well as its international base. 

Last month, OYO acquired G6 Hospitality, the parent entity of Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands, from Blackstone Real Estate for $525 Mn (around INR 4382.72 Cr) in an all-cash transaction.

Besides this, OYO-owned Innov8 has forayed into the office management space mirroring the business models of the likes of publicly-listed Awfis and IPO-bound Smartworks.