India’s biggest hotel operator plans to open 500 sites in Britain, in a direct challenge to Premier Inn and Travelodge.
OYO Rooms, which has raised more than $1bn (£775m) from backers including SoftBank and Airbnb, already runs 35 hotels in the UK, but is planning to expand aggressively over the next two years.
The business was founded six years ago by college dropout Ritesh Agarwal, 25, and has grown to become one of India’s most valuable start-ups. A funding round last year led by Japan’s SoftBank valued the business at $5bn.
