Investment by Bollywood stars and celebrities in India’s popular travel tech platform OYO has become the center of attraction. In recent months, celebrities like actress Madhuri Dixit, Amrita Rao, and Bollywood producer Gauri Khan have bought shares of OYO.
Gauri Khan participated in the company’s Series G funding round in August 2024 and bought 24 lakh shares of OYO. During this funding round, OYO raised over Rs 1400 crore from the consortium of investors. However, response from Gauri Khan’s team could not be received on this.
Growing trend of investment in startups
OYO said in a statement that celebrities are investing in high-growth startups with the aim of getting good returns after the IPO (going public) of these companies.
- Madhuri Dixit, her husband Dr. Shriram Nene, and Dr. Ritesh Malik, founder of flex space company Innov8, bought 20 lakh shares in OYO.
- OYO has not shared the total valuation of this investment.
Dr. Ritesh Malik is a physician, angel investor, and founding member of Plaksha University.
Amrita Rao and Anmol Sood’s investment
OYO also revealed that actress Amrita Rao and her husband Anmol Sood, a popular radio jockey, also bought OYO shares from the secondary market.
- Recently Nuvama Wealth bought shares worth Rs 100 crore of OYO on behalf of its investors, which include several family offices.
- This investment was made through secondary transaction at the rate of Rs 53 per share.
Current valuation of OYO
- OYO’s valuation based on current investments is $4.6 billion (approximately Rs 37,000 crore).
- However, this is still far below OYO’s peak valuation of $10 billion.
