Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of hospitality chain OYO, is all set to get married. Ahead of his wedding which is set to take place in March this year as per reports, Agarwal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend an invitation.
The 29-year-old businessman took to Twitter to share glimpses of his visit with the Prime Minister.
"With the blessings of honourable Prime Minister @narendramodi ji, we are all set for a new beginning. Words cannot express the warmth with which he received us," he tweeted.
"My mother, who is inspired by his vision for women empowerment and Geet, from Express (Uttar) Pradesh, were heartened to meet him. Thank you for sparing your valuable time and for your good wishes," he added.
Agarwal will reportedly tie the knot next month. His wedding will be followed by a reception at a 5-star hotel in the national capital Delhi, according to a report by Times Now.
The young entrepreneur was born to a Marwari family in the state of Odisha and moved to Delhi in 2011 for college. He dropped out of college after two years and was eventually accepted into the Thiel Fellowship program. As one of the winners of the Fellowship program, he received a grant of $100,000 which was used to launch OYO in May 2013.
Today, the company has emerged as one of the most successful hospitality companies in not just India but also globally.
Recently, Agarwal revealed that the hospitality chain is the biggest hospitality tech platform in Indonesia. He said that there are over 2,500 exclusive OYO hotels available across over 180 cities.
“Milestone alert :) We are now the biggest hospitality tech platform in Indonesia with over 2,500 exclusive hotels available for bookings across 180+ cities! We have hosted over 13 million guests since 2018, recording 15x growth!,” said Agarwal in a LinkedIn post.
As for the Indian market, Oravel Stays which owns OYO stated during a town hall that it is focussing on reducing operational inefficiencies that will further push up profitability. Agarwal said that they will become adjusted EBITDA positive this fiscal year for the first time.
The company is expecting to close its adjusted EBITDA for the second half of FY23 at Rs 185 crore, which is a three-times increase from H1 which was closed at Rs 63 crore.
Also Read: OYO now biggest hospitality tech platform in Indonesia: CEO Ritesh Agarwal