Ritesh Agarwal

Ritesh Agarwal is the founder and CEO of OYO, the SoftBank-backed global hospitality company, and one of India's youngest self-made billionaires. He channels his personal investing through Aroa Ventures, a Singapore-based firm he established in 2020, sponsored by his RACo Holding Company and fully controlled by him, with day-to-day operations led by Gaurav Gulati, the former COO of Innov8 (which OYO acquired in 2019). Aroa focuses on early and growth-stage businesses across consumer, technology and leisure-infrastructure sectors, and is explicitly operationally oriented, seeking companies with proven unit economics, roughly 20% year-on-year growth and $1–10 million in annual revenue, run by high-repute entrepreneurs building long-lasting businesses. The firm writes cheques between $500K and $5 million (about ₹4–41 crore) and, beyond capital, helps portfolio companies accelerate growth and improve risk-adjusted returns. Aroa manages around ₹418 crore and has made roughly 45 investments, with sector exposure spanning software, media and entertainment, finance and retail; named portfolio companies include ZipLoan, Fashalot, Atomberg Technologies, GIFSKEY, Wysh and, via Shark Tank India, Shyle. Agarwal's scaling experience across 80-plus countries gives him a distinctive global operating perspective on unit economics, distribution and expansion that founders value alongside his capital and brand.