China-headquartered hotel chain China Lodging Group invested $10m in India-based short-term accommodation booking platform Oyo last week as part of a strategic partnership deal announced on Wednesday.
Oyo runs an online service where users can book branded budget hotel rooms in 230 cities across India, Malaysia and Nepal. The company works with a large range of hotel partners and guarantees a minimum standard of accommodation and services.
China Lodging picked up a stake in Oyo sized at less than 5%. The companies will share technology and expertise as well as exploring joint ventures and investments, and possibly partnerships for loyalty schemes, local sourcing and procurement.
Oyo has now raised approximately $448m in funding, having received $250m earlier this month in a round led by telecom firm Softbank’s Vision Fund that included diversified group Hero Enterprise, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital and Greenoaks Capital.
The company had raised just over $25m from Sequoia, Lightspeed, Greenoaks, DSG Consumer Partners and Venture Nursery when SoftBank led its $100m series B round in 2015, investing together with Lightspeed, Greenoaks and Sequoia, before adding $62m in August 2016.