Oyo is a curiously familiar concept. It has a beguiling business idea but has hit roadblocks after raising a tonne of money, some of it from SoftBank.
The Uber-like platform for hotels, like many start-ups, is investing heavily for growth. Businesses backed by the Japanese tech investor epitomise this greed for speed. The India-based group views current issues as teething problems that can be fixed through restructuring. Last month it axed 2,000 staff, exited 200 cities and purged 1,000 hotels from its platform. It is, in time-honoured words, “on the path to profitability”.
Oyo lifted revenues more than fourfold last year while net losses ballooned sixfold, according to numbers filed on Monday. By now, Oyo is well into its next stage: international expansion.