Ritesh Agarwal is the Founder and Group CEO of OYO. Funded by marquee investors such as Microsoft, Airbnb, SoftBank, Peak XV Partners and Lightspeed, OYO builds technology products and services out of India for around 185,000 hotels and homes in 35 countries, empowering millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs around the world.
Hailing from a small town in Odisha, India, Ritesh was only 19 when he founded OYO in 2013 after his own experiences as a solo teenage traveler in the country staying at small hotels, BnBs and guest houses. Ritesh was one of the first Asian residents to be accepted to the prestigious Thiel Fellowship, and in 2020, he became the world's second-youngest billionaire.
Ritesh is among a handful of Indian startup founders to have successfully built a truly global business, with a healthy presence across key geographies such as Europe, the US and the UK. As part of OYO Vacation Homes in Europe, the company operates full-service holiday homes providers such as DanCenter and Belvilla, and online marketplace Traum-Ferienwohnungen. In 2024, OYO acquired American chain G6 Hospitality, which operates the iconic Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands, from Blackstone Real Estate.
A popular figure in the startup space, Ritesh enjoys a following of over 2.2 million on social media. He has been a judge on the popular reality series Shark Tank India since 2024.
He has been recognized as a young innovator and business leader by Bloomberg Businessweek in the Bloomberg 50 List (2019), CNBC as Young Turk of the Year (2019), Fortune in the Tycoons
of Tomorrow Award (2018), Forbes as 30 under 30 (2016) and The Economic Times as 40 under 40 (2016).
Ritesh currently serves as a FICCI Executive Committee Member and CII National Council Member. Both CII and FICCI are apex industry associations in India.