雅虎香港財經 Microsoft Funds Indian Hospitality Unicorn At $9.6B Valuation Despite Pandemic-Induced Downturn
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) has invested $5 million in SoftBank Group Corp (OTC: SFTBY)-backed Indian hotel aggregator chain Oyo Rooms, TechCrunch reported on Thursday, confirming earlier speculations.
What Happened: The fresh funding values Oyo, which allows users to book rooms via their phones or the web and has navigated through the pandemic with layoffs and losses, at $9.6 billion.
The startup was valued at $10 billion in a funding round in July 2019 but due to the hit taken amid the pandemic, its valuation slipped to $3 billion in recent quarters as implied in a funding from Japan's Softbank, which is one of its largest investors.
Last month, Oyo said it had raised $660 million in debt.
Why It Matters: Microsoft has in the past made investments in Indian startups that include news aggregator and short-video platform DailyHunt, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT)-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart, and logistics SaaS firm FarEye.
The deal may require Oyo, which is considering an initial public offering, to use Microsoft’s cloud services, the report noted.
Price Action: Microsoft shares closed 2.08% higher at $296.77 on Thursday.
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