Articles tagged “softbank”

WeWork's implosion is putting pressure on all of SoftBank's investments, Oyo included. If it's not changing course already, the budget hotel chain may soon have to decide whether, as CEO Ritesh Agarwal put it, to grow fast or grow right.

Oyo has a hype machine to rival any brand. But beneath all of the disruption, some hotel owners complain its technology is unstable and lacks functionality, leaving them to clean up the mess. Growth for growth's sake may seem great for a unicorn-like valuation, but the hotel chain will need to grapple with flaws in its business model that can't keep pace.

Oyo is opening, on average, one new hotel per day. It should be available in all 50 U.S. states in no time.

Oyo's dynamic pricing strategy could turn out to be a bit of a double-edged sword in the U.S., where the company faces greater competition. On one hand occupancy is sure to go up for many of its hotel partners, but if a majority of rooms are booked last-minute at incredibly low prices, hotel managers can start enduring some losses.

Sometimes it's obvious when a company is growing too fast. This doesn't appear to be one of those times. Oyo wants to be everywhere customers want to vacation.

SoftBank has upended the sales of tours and attractions by investing record-breaking sums in GetYourGuide and Klook. That's boosted valuations to such lofty levels that it may leave only a few options: Merge or go public.

For the first time, an Asian startup, Klook, is attracting the highest funding ever in tours and activities. For the last time, can skeptics of this travel sector please bow out?

Japan is a destination that’s never, ever described as affordable. But Oyo, with its budget hotel concept, could be transformational for its tourism economy.

India's Oyo should feel at home in Japan, home of its biggest financier SoftBank. But will this automatically translate to success for Oyo? This is why it is starting its expansion in Japan with a new long-stay model.

Uber needs to shed its Saudi Arabia investment as long as Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman remains in power, and the country bombs innocents in Yemen. Uber's leaders know they have to do this, but how they dump their Saudi investment and the extent of the divorce remain to be seen.