The Silicon Review ^Asia

Oyo Hotels & Homes, India’s largest hospitality company, is likely to hit the valuation of $10-billion as it looks for a fresh round of financing. This will make the seven-year-old startup one of the most valuable new-economy ventures from India, according to a report appeared in The Economic Times on Tuesday.

The Gurgaon-based company plans to raise about $1 billion in fresh capital from SoftBank and other two new investors, the report said.

“They are looking at a valuation of around $10 billion for the new round, for which they will hit the road next quarter,” said one of the sources who was quoted by ET. “The company is looking at a new lead investor and there is high interest from both financial and strategic investors.”

However, an Oyo spokesperson refuted the claim that the company is raising any funds, currently.

“This is speculation. Oyo Hotels & Homes has a very healthy balance sheet and we are not in talks with any investors. We don’t have any further comments,” said an Oyo spokesperson in response to an emailed query from TOI.

SoftBank holds a little over 46 percent stake in the company at the moment that includes the fresh funding. It’s interesting to note that the expected bump in the valuation comes at a time when the hospitality company has vastly expanded into international markets, especially China and Europe. With this, Oyo becomes the sixth largest hotel chain in the world.

Oyo was established by a then-teenager Ritesh Agarwal (now 25) in 2012.