By CNBC-TV18 May 4, 2019 8:50:23 AM IST (Updated)
This isn’t just your ordinary 'rags to riches' story. This is the extraordinary tale of a teenage boy who refused to cower down to fate and chose to make a solid mark in the startup world instead. It's the story of Ritesh Agarwal, the founder and CEO of the country's largest hospitality chain OYO, now something of a household name in India.
This isn’t just your ordinary 'rags to riches' story. This is the extraordinary tale of a teenage boy who refused to cower down to fate and chose to make a solid mark in the startup world instead.
Ritesh Agarwal, the founder and CEO of the country's largest hospitality chain OYO, is now something of a household name in India. Oyo has now set sights on expanding in Europe with the purchase of an Amsterdam-based vacation rental firm. The company has received about $1.7 billion in funding , according to Crunchbase, with Airbnb recently putting in $75 million. Backed by Japanese investment giant SoftBank, we are certain to see OYO splashing money to realise Agarwal’s ambition of becoming a global hospitality powerhouse.Unlike many businessmen, the 25-year-old tech star didn’t inherit his power and position. Agarwal founded Oyo in 2013 at the age of 19, but began his entrepreneurial journey selling SIM cards while in the eighth grade in his hometown in Odisha.