SoftBank's Sumer Juneja to join Oyo board

OYO’s parent company, Oravel Stays Ltd, is poised to welcome Sumer Juneja, Managing Partner and Head of EMEA & India Investing at SoftBank Vision Fund, as a non-executive director on its board, according to sources. This appointment will be finalized pending shareholder approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), as reported by PTI. Juneja will serve on the board as a nominee director representing SoftBank.

Insiders, who requested anonymity, suggest that this move reflects SoftBank's optimistic outlook on OYO, particularly as the company has recently achieved profitability.

OYO, the travel tech platform, announced that the financial year 2023-24 marks its first profitable fiscal year, with net earnings approaching Rs 100 crore, as noted by founder Ritesh Agarwal in a recent post on the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter).

"SoftBank is actively backing OYO and demonstrating renewed interest in its future potential. They aim to accelerate the company’s growth in international markets," remarked a source familiar with the situation.

Juneja's appointment follows the exit of Munish Varma, SoftBank's previous board nominee, who stepped down in September 2021. Since then, SoftBank has not appointed a successor to its representative on OYO's board.