Ankit Gupta, India CEO at hospitality and travel tech startup Oyo, has quit the company ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO). Oyo’s Europe head, Mandar Vaidya, has also put in his papers.
“Ankit Gupta and Mandar Vaidya moved on from their roles six months ago in March 2023. We are proud of their achievements at OYO and are thankful for their leadership. Both roles were already transitioned six months ago to Varun Jain as COO India and Gautam Swaroop as CEO OYO Vacation Homes, respectively,” said OYO spokesperson.
Both Gupta and Vaidya have left the SoftBank-backed organisation to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions, and the transition was smooth and hand-held, the spokesperson said without sharing details.
Gupta had joined Oyo in 2019 and took over as the CEO of the company in March last year. He put in his papers this March. Prior to taking over the role of India CEO, Gupta was CEO of the franchise and frontier business at the hospitality unicorn.
Before joining OYO, Gupta was globally leading McKinsey’s real estate transformation practice and was the co-leader of the company’s Indian sales & marketing service line for more than 14 years.
Vaidya, too, had joined Oyo in 2019 as the CEO for Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He later went on to lead Europe operations from April 2021.
Since the start of 2023, Oyo has been restructuring its top deck. Global chief operating officer Abhinav Sinha took over the extra position of chief technology and product officer and Anuj Tejpal became the chief merchant officer. The two have been with the organisation since its early days.
Oyo reportedly filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for a likely slimmed-down IPO in March this year. The SoftBank-backed company had initially filed to go public in October 2021 but delayed the share sale due to market conditions. According to a PTI report in March, the company is expected to launch its issue around Diwali this year.
OYO reported an adjusted EBITDA of around R s245 crore ($29.9 million) in FY23, its first year as a profitable firm, and was reportedly aiming for an adjusted EBITDA of Rs 800 crore in FY24, its founder Ritesh Agarwal recently told employees in a town hall.