RedDoorz squares off against OYO in Southeast Asia

After years of growing in the shadows, budget hotel aggregator RedDoorz made a statement of intent by raising $115 million in 2019. Now, as it looks to conquer SE Asia, it’s on a collision course with OYO.

Ambitious OYO hasn't yet got to grips with the diversity of Southeast Asia, and now it has a freshly-minted rival focused on out-localising the $10 billion Indian startup

The rapid ascent of RedDoorz this year saw China’s Qiming and new growth fund Asia Venture Partners hitch a ride with their first deals in Southeast Asia

Like Uber vs Grab, RedDoorz is a story of a local underdog battling bigger global players with larger war chests: in this case OYO and Yanolja, a $1 billion startup from Korea

Online travel spending in Southeast Asia is tipped to more than double to reach $78B by 2025—the region already has unicorns in flight booking and activities, and the hotel booking space is primed for a challenger

If you were looking for the antithesis to OYO, the controversial $10 billion giant, then RedDoorz would be it. Both are budget hotel aggregators with India-born CEOs—Ritesh Agarwal and Amit Saberwal, respectively.

The similarities, however, end there.

While OYO has aggressively expanded across the globe with the backing of VC giant SoftBank’s bottomless pockets, RedDoorz has taken a more measured approach. Founded in 2015, it raised just $25 million across the first four years of its existence, preferring to hone its business model instead. That, too, largely in its home country of Indonesia.

In fact, it wasn’t until earlier this year that RedDoorz truly made a splash, announcing a $45-million Series B round in July.

AUTHOR

Jon Russell

Jon Russell is Southeast Asia editor for The Ken based in Bangkok. Originally from the UK, Jon moved to Thailand in 2008. He’s passionate about telling thoughtful business stories, and tracking the impact of the internet in his adopted home of Southeast Asia.

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