Ritesh Agarwal: the 21-year-old behind India’s largest hotel network

One night, 18-year-old Ritesh Agarwal was locked out of his apartment in Delhi. It was an unfortunate incident that was to change his life. Forced to check into a hotel he found himself in a situation he had already experienced several times while travelling in India.

Ritesh Agarwal founder and CEO of OYO Rooms

Said Agarwal,

"The receptionist was sleeping. Sockets did not work in the room, mattresses were torn apart, the bathroom was leaking, and at the end they wouldn't let me pay by card. I felt if this was my problem, this had to be a problem for many travellers. Why can't India have a good standard of hotel rooms at a reasonable price?''

Four years later, at the age of 21, Agarwal is now the founder and chief executive of Oyo Rooms - a network of 2,200 hotels operating in 100 cities across India - with monthly revenues of $3.5m and 1,500 employees.

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link, a bridge that connects central Mumbai with its western suburbs

The firm works with unbranded hotels to improve their facilities and train staff, rebrands them with its own name, and from then on takes a percentage of the hotel's revenues. The owner of the hotel benefits from a higher occupancy rate, thanks to Oyo's branding.

And as part of the business, Agarwal has also developed an app, which guests can use to book rooms, get directions to the hotel, and once they have arrived, to use the hotels amenities, for example to order room service.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Red Fort in Delhi is the location from which the Prime Minister of India addresses the nation on Independence Day

Despite such rapid growth, the early days were extremely difficult. No one believed that this could be a technology business in the future. As he was only 18 when he started, normal things like getting a bank account or hiring staff were more challenging. Plus some people saw his age as a chance to take advantage.

Agarwal managed to win a fellowship and used the funding to start the business. The firm launched in June 2013 with just $900 a month, working with one hotel in Delhi. Now the business has grown, it has become much easier to attract investors, and the firm recently secured $100m from Japan's Softbank.

Softbank Corp. building in Tokyo, Japan

His ambition is to expand overseas. He hopes to create the world's largest network of hotel rooms. But he admits it won't be easy, saying recruiting the right people when it is growing so rapidly is tough.

For those keen to emulate his success, his advice - perhaps unsurprisingly,

"Start really fast and, if you fail, you will learn and the chances of success in the next venture will increase."

(All images - credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)