這家公司背后是軟銀支持，估值很高，增長率極高，可能顛覆整個行業，而且目前沒有利潤。

不，我們說的不是共享辦公空間WeWork。來看看Oyo吧?？偛课挥谟《鹊木频瓿鮿摴局饕乱延薪ㄖ⑸壏?，實現統一標準，由此成為全球酒店業的領導者。根據公司發布的聲明，上周剛宣布籌集15億美元資本，在美國和英國等海外市場擴大投資，估值也翻了一番達到100億美元。

創始人李泰熙（Ritesh Agarwal）將領銜該輪融資，投入7億美元，軟銀和紅杉印度等投資者將承擔其余部分。據彭博社報道，李泰熙從瑞穗金融集團和野村控股獲得了20億美元貸款，部分將用于購買Oyo的新股。

李泰熙計劃用剩下的貸款從Oyo現有投資者手中購買價值13億美元的股票，以實現之前宣布的將公司持股增加到30%。他將使用名叫RA Hospitality Holdings的實體完成交易。

目前Oyo在80個國家有120萬間客房，近幾個月一直在積極推動印度境外的發展，上周的聲明也與公司計劃一致。今年6月，Oyo首席運營官阿比哈夫·辛哈對《財富》印度表示，希望“進入全球15-20個大國”。

今年5月，Oyo出資4.1億美元收購了總部位于阿姆斯特丹的度假公寓租賃公司@Leasure；今年4月，Oyo吸引到愛彼迎投資，8月收購了拉斯維加斯的Hooters 賭場酒店。投資者對各項收購興奮不已，認為未來Oyo確實能主導酒店行業。

“Oyo有兩大核心能力：一是有效地改造現有的酒店，二是技術支持的物業管理，為將來有一天公司成為全世界最大的連鎖酒店奠定了基礎?！奔t杉印度顧問兼董事總經理莫伊特·巴哈特那迦告訴《財富》印度。

前所未有的高增長也引發不少擔憂，有人擔心公司擴張速度過快，可能無法持續提供“高品質的入住體驗”。李泰熙接受《財富》印度采訪時表示，公司在建筑方面已經實現逐年盈利，此前的7月他拒絕就盈利時間對《華爾街日報》發表評論。

融資方面，李泰熙則是真正的行動派。凱斯西儲大學研究獨角獸公司的助理教授阿納特·阿隆-貝克表示，雖然創始人親自主導一輪融資并不常見，但對投資人來說似乎是個令人鼓舞的跡象。

“他沒有既不掏錢還拼命攬權，自己也投入其中?！卑⒙?貝克說?！八诟嬖V投資人，‘看，我自己也能找來錢。我去貸款，真正下了本錢。我在拿自己的資本冒險。’”

不過，也有人質疑李泰熙并未讓機構投資者牽頭本輪交易，會不會是危險信號。投資平臺Republic的首席執行官肯·阮說，如果找家知名公司牽頭，相當于其他投資者也都投下信任票。

“最好的辦法是找外部機構?！比钫f。

阮表示，李泰熙的做法也沒錯，但一個25歲的人拼盡全力爭取貸款還是相當特殊的情況。阮認為，現在機構投資者應該對Oyo“稍微謹慎一點”。

Crunchbase的數據顯示，成立于2013年的Oyo前幾輪融資中融到了17億美元，最近的融資消息發布之前其估值為50億美元。阿隆-貝克說，隨著李泰熙不斷吸引軟銀等知名投資方，Oyo的估值將繼續推高。

“如果真是獨角獸，就不需要通過公開市場賺錢。”阿隆-貝克說?！爸灰尤氇毥谦F俱樂部，就有大批投資者?！鲍@得軟銀的認可實現該目標的第一步，因為軟銀能夠為初創企業顯著“提升可信度”，L.A. Tech House的加布·烏利布說。

對軟銀來說，通過該筆投資可進一步深入印度市場，此前軟銀已經在印度投資了最具價值的初創公司Paytm，是估值約150億美元的數字支付公司。

與此同時，因最近Uber和WeWork等投資業績不佳，軟銀的首席執行官孫正義“尷尬又著急”。

但烏利布認為，印度的幾筆投資并不能證明軟銀發掘價值的能力。他認為業績不佳主要怪初創企業本身?！盎鸬娜蝿帐亲R別并確定創新技術，一直都是這么做的?！睘趵颊f?！盎鹗强萍夹袠I孵化器，而不是金融咨詢集團。因此，我認為，企業IPO失誤就認為軟銀能力欠缺并不公平。”

也許確實如此，但軟銀肯定希望這次押注高增長、高估值的公司結果能比WeWork好。（財富中文網）

譯者：馮豐

審校：夏林

This Softbank-backed company has a wild valuation. Sky-high growth. Potential to disrupt an entire industry. And no profits in sight.

No, we're not talking about WeWork. Meet Oyo. The hotel startup—based in India—renovates existing buildings and upgrades services to meet a set of uniform standards that has made it a global leader in the hospitality market. And it doubled its valuation to $10 billion after the company announced last week it is raising $1.5 billion in capital to expand its presence in foreign markets, including the U.S. and the U.K, according to a company statement.

Founder Ritesh Agarwal will lead the round financing, putting up $700 million, while other investors such as SoftBank and Sequoia India will pick up the rest of the tab. Agarwal secured loans worth $2 million from Mizuho Financial Group and Nomura Holdings, which he will use in part to purchase new shares of Oyo, according to Bloomberg.

Agarwal plans to use the rest of the loans to buy $1.3 billion worth of shares from Oyo’s existing investors as part of his previously announced plan to increase his stake in the company to 30%. He will use an entity called RA Hospitality Holdings to complete the transactions.

Oyo, which operates 1.2 million rooms in 80 countries, has been aggressive in its push to grow outside of India’s borders in recent months, and last week's announcement falls in line with the company’s plan. Abhihav Sinha, chief operating officer for Oyo, told Fortune India in June the company wanted to “be in 15-20 large countries across the globe.”

The company purchased Amsterdam-based @Leasure, a vacation rental company, for $410 million in May while in the U.S., Oyo drew in Airbnb as an investor in April and also purchased the Hooters Casino Hotel in Las Vegas in August. The acquisitions excite investors who see Oyo dominating the hotel industry in the future.

“Oyo’s two capabilities—efficient transformation of existing hotels and tech-enabled property management—provide the foundation for the company to become the largest hotel chain in the world someday,” Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors, told Fortune India.

But this unprecedented growth comes with some concern the company won’t be able to deliver a “high-quality living experience consistently” given the pace of expansion. Agarwal said in the interview with Fortune India that company has been profitable on a year-over-year basis at the building level after previously refusing to comment on when the company would be profitable to The Wall Street Journal in July.

Agarwal is putting his money where his mouth is though. While unusual for a founder to lead a financing round, the move seems to be an encouraging sign for investors, said Anat Alon-Beck, an assistant professor who studies unicorn companies at Case Western Reserve University.

“He’s not just maintaining control without putting money in—he’s also playing the game,” Alon-Beck said. “He’s showing investors, ‘Look, I can bring in money, too, from my own pocket. I took out loans. I have skin in the game. I’m risking my own capital.’”

Others, however, question whether it's a red flag that Agarwal did not secure an institutional investor to head the round. Getting a well-known firm to be the lead equates to a vote of confidence for other investors, said Ken Ngyuen, CEO of Republic, an investment platform.

“The optimal approach would be to get an external institution,” Nguyen said.

While Nguyen said there’s nothing wrong with what Agarwal is doing, it’s a rather unique scenario for an individual to secure a loan of the size the 25-year-old was able to get. Nguyen thinks institutional investors are a “little more cautious” with Oyo now.

The company, which was founded in 2013, had raised $1.7 billion in previous rounds of funding and was valued at $5 billion before the recent funding news, according to Crunchbase. Agarwal keeps attracting high-profile investors like SoftBank, which will keep driving Oyo’s valuation higher, Alon-Beck said.

“You don’t need public markets for money if you’re a unicorn,” Alon-Beck said. “Once you’ve joined the unicorn club, you’re going to get plenty of investors.” Earning SoftBank’s seal of approval has been one of the first steps in reaching that goal because the investment fund brings “incredible validity to startups,” said Gabe Uribe of L.A. Tech House.

For SoftBank, it furthers the company's move into India, where it has also invested in the country’s most-valuable startup Paytm, a digital payment firm that is valued around $15 billion.

That comes as other investments such as Uber and WeWork have left CEO Masayoshi Son "embarrassed and impatient" because of his recent track record.

But Uribe does not see these investments as indicative of SoftBank’s ability to spot value. He puts the failing performances on the startups themselves. “The fund's job is to recognize and identify innovative technologies, which it has and continues to do,” Uribe said. “The fund is a tech incubator, not a financial advisory group. So I don’t think it's fair to see mishandled IPOs as a reflection of Softbank."

That may be, but certainly SoftBank is hoping that this high growth, high valuation bet turns out better than WeWork.