Ritesh Agarwal

Ritesh Agarwal
Born 16 November 1993 (1993-11-16) (age 22)
Bissam Cuttack,Rayagada, Odisha
Alma mater Indian School of Business & Finance, Delhi
Occupation Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms
Net worth not known
Religion Hindu

Ritesh Agarwal (born 16 November 1993) is an Indian entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of OYO Rooms. He started his business career at age 17. He is the first resident Indian to win the Thiel Fellowship. More recently, he was named by Forbes in its "30 Under 30" list in the consumer tech sector.[1]

He first started Oravel Stays at the age of 18, and then catapulted it into OYO Rooms.[2] It also features among the companies which may become the next start-up unicorns according to CB Insights research's findings, published in The New York Times.[3]

Early life

Agarwal was born on November 16, 1993, in Bissam Cuttack and was raised in a middle-class Marwari family. His father works with an infrastructure corporation and his mother is a homemaker. He has three siblings.

He went to Sacred Heart School in Rayagada, Odisha.[4] After finishing class 12th, he enrolled in Indian School of Business & Finance, Delhi.[5] However, he didn't continue with his college education and dropped out to start his own company without his family knowing of this move. He has often talked to the media about how he was scared of his parents getting to know that he has dropped out of college.[6] In an interview with the Economic Times, Agarwal said, "When the newspapers started reporting it. My dad came to Delhi and was perplexed to see the office. It took me a day to convince him. My mom was very unhappy because she felt who would take me for a groom? You needed to be at least a graduate."[7]

Professional life

He started travelling extensively across India at the age of 17. His various stay experiences at budget accommodations inspired him to launch Oravel Stays in 2012. Oravel was modeled after Airbnb.[8] By 2013, Agarwal realized that mere aggregation of bed and breakfasts couldn't address the problems of budget travelers in India and hence, he pivoted Oravel Stays into OYO Rooms.[9]

In the same year, Agarwal was selected for the Thiel Fellowship. The fellowship was created by PayPal founder, Peter Thiel, and provides $100,000 to college drop-outs under 22 years of age to pursue their idea.[10] Agarwal is the first resident Indian Thiel fellow.

OYO Rooms

OYO Rooms is India's largest budget hotel chain and is present in over 160 cities across the country with 40,000 rooms under its umbrella. OYO Rooms is not merely an aggregator of budget hotels but instead focuses on the standardization of hotels in the non-branded hospitality sector. OYO Rooms is considered to be one of the very few start-ups which are non-copycat.[11] According to Agarwal, OYO Rooms was founded to solve the problem of the lack of predictability, affordability, accessibility and availability at budget stays.[12] Ritesh Agarwal, recently announced OYO's launch in Malaysia through a post on the company's official blog.[13]

Awards and Recognition

References

  1. ↑ "Ritesh Agarwal, 22 - In Photos: 2016 30 Under 30: Consumer Tech". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  2. ↑ "At 21, He's the Mind Behind Multi-Million Dollar Start-Up OYO". Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  3. ↑ Times, The New York. "50 Companies That May Be the Next Start-Up Unicorns". Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  4. ↑ "Prestigious Thiel Fellowship to Odisha boy Ritesh Agarwal, Odisha Current News, Odisha Latest Headlines". www.orissadiary.com. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
  5. ↑ Ritesh Agarwal CEO & Founder OYO Rooms at ISBF Orientation Ceremony, retrieved 2015-09-02
  6. ↑ Energized Entrepreneurs Live Ft. Ritesh Agarwal, retrieved 2015-08-27
  7. ↑ www.ETRealty.com. "Meet OYO Rooms' Ritesh Agarwal: The dropout who dined with Peter Thiel | ET RealEstate". ETRealty.com. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  8. ↑ "Ritesh Agarwal - Yo! Success". Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  9. ↑ "Oravel Shuts Down; Founder Launches OYO RoomsNextBigWhatNextBigWhat". www.nextbigwhat.com. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
  10. ↑ "Thiel Fellowship".
  11. ↑ Rai, Saritha. "Why A 21-Year-Old Is Building OYO As An Uber (And Not An Airbnb) For Hotels In India". Retrieved 2015-08-28.
  12. ↑ "Budget hotels was a massive problem to solve, says OYO Rooms Founder : In conversation with Business Today: Business Today". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
  13. ↑ "From Kanpur to Kuala Lumpur. Hello 2016! - Official OYO Blog". Official OYO Blog. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  14. ↑ Konrad, Alex. "Ritesh Agarwal, 22 - In Photos: 2016 30 Under 30: Consumer Tech". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  15. ↑ Mark Bergen. "Oravel founder Ritesh Agarwal wins Thiel Fellowship". http://www.livemint.com/. Retrieved 7 September 2015. External link in |work= (help)
  16. ↑ "How successful is National Entrepreneurship Network in it's mission? - Quora". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "2. Ritesh Agarwal is revolutionizing accommodations in emerging economies by providing tech-enabled inns and affordable hotel alternatives. - Business Insider India". Business Insider. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "TiE-Lumis Entrepreneurial Excellence Award". The Unbiased Blog. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  19. ↑ "ritesh agarwal | BW | Businessworld". www.businessworld.in. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
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