Oyo, once a chain of high-flying Indian budget hotels, has withdrawn its IPO application from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for the second time, a further blow to its already diminished ambitions.
The Gurugram-based startup, which at its peak was valued at $10 billion, scrapped its IPO plans on May 17, according to a disclosure on the regulator’s website. Oyo had initially filed documents with SEBI in 2021 for a public listing, but withdrew them and filed again in 2023.
SEBI has yet to approve any of Oyo’s applications, raising questions about the startup’s preparedness to face public scrutiny. Oyo has been scrambling to secure a new round of funding worth $3 billion or less, TechCrunch reported earlier this month. Oyo had denied raising capital at this valuation.
However, the company is now trying to raise money at a valuation as low as $2 billion to $2.3 billion, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. To date, it has raised over $3 billion in equity and debt.
Oyo, backed by SoftBank, Peak XV, Lightspeed, Airbnb and Microsoft, was once hailed as a disruptor in the budget hospitality sector. But in recent years, the startup has come under fire for its business practices and even laid off thousands of employees in 2020 to cut costs.
techcrunch
