Oyo, India’s once-thriving budget hotel chain, has withdrawn its IPO application from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a second time, in a fresh blow to its already diminished ambitions.
The Gurugram-based startup, which was valued at $10 billion at its peak, withdrew its IPO plans on May 17, based on a report. disclosure on the regulator’s website. Oyo initially filed documents with SEBI in 2021 for listing, but withdrew it and re-filed in 2023.
SEBI is yet to approve any of Oyo’s applications, raising questions about the startup’s readiness to face public scrutiny. As TechCrunch reported earlier this month, Oyo is looking for to secure a latest round of financing value as much as $3 billion. Oyo denied raising capital at this valuation.
However, the company is currently trying to lift money at a valuation of $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 hotel industry. But in recent years, startups have done just that has been criticized for its business practices, and even laid off 1000’s of employees in 2020 to chop costs.