OYO Rooms offers travelers throughout the world inexpensive and excellent hotel rooms. But, did you that its founder Ritesh Agarwal once sold SIM cards.
OYO Rooms provides travelers all around the world with low-cost, high-quality hotel rooms. But did you know that its creator, Ritesh Agarwal (worth over $600 million), used to sell SIM cards?
Ritesh Agarwal founded OYO Rooms, which debuted in May 2013. Ritesh Agarwal is the world’s second youngest self-made billionaire, behind Kylie Jenner. OYO is an acronym that stands for “On Your Own.” He started when he was 20 years old with the goal of making it easier for people to locate inexpensive hotel rooms.
OYO is currently an international Indian online travel agency. It is present in over 80 countries worldwide, including India, Malaysia, China, Brazil, UAE, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, the United States, and many others.
Ritesh was born and raised by a Marwari family in Titilagarh, India. His family had a small business in the nearby city of Rayagada, where he attended Sacred Heart School. He then finished his secondary school at St. John’s Senior Secondary School. He moved to Delhi for his degree in 2011, but dropped out when he was chosen for the Thiel Fellowship.
Ritesh used to sell SIM cards when he was 13 years old, which is a little-known fact about him.
He traveled to Kota after finishing school to take the Joint Entrance Exam. There, he liked going to various locations with his buddies. He authored a book at the time called A Complete Encyclopedia of the Top 100 Engineering Colleges. Ritesh was 16 years old when he was chosen for the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Asian Science Camp in Mumbai.
Ritesh began his studies at Indian Business School at the University of London. He was driven by a tremendous ambition to become an entrepreneur.
Ritesh was eager to learn about startups and business concepts. He used to travel to numerous business meetings and stay in hotels based on his budget. That’s when the thought occurred to him.
He was drawn to Airbnb, a San Francisco-based online marketplace and accommodation business. Ritesh founded Oravel Stays, an online cheap accommodation booking service, when he was 17 years old. This concept was approved into Venture Nursery’s accelerator program in 2012. Agarwal was one of the Thiel Fellowship Program’s 2013 recipients, receiving a $100,000 stipend.
In May 2013, it debuted as “OYO Rooms.” In a short period of time, OYO became the largest network of low-cost hotels.
OYO has over 72,000 rooms in 8000 hotels across India, with locations in over 250 cities. OYO Rooms’ current net worth exceeds $600 million.
OYO offers travellers economical and fantastic hotel accommodations. It raised $1 billion in 2018, and by July of this year, Ritesh had quadrupled his company’s position by acquiring $2 billion in shares. Agarwal’s net worth was Rs. 7235 crores in 2020.
Much is unknown about his family members because they are kept confidential. Ritesh’s father works for an infrastructure company, while his mother is a stay-at-home mom. He is presently single and has no relationships. In Singapore, he founded Aroa Ventures, a new investment firm. This firm focuses on the early phases of development.
Aroa Ventures was established last year, with Agarwal and Thomas Hufnagel as the two shareholders. Aroa Ventures is entirely owned by Agarwal. This investment is backed by RACo holding firm, another Agarwal investment business that wholly owns Aroa Ventures.
Many of us can be inspired by Agarwal’s experience. He works hard to grow his company and expand it abroad. OYO is currently a worldwide platform that provides full stack technology to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and hotel owners in order to enhance their revenues. Tourists may book budget-friendly and confirmed accommodations with OYO.
