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Ritesh Agarwal (born in 16 November 1993) is the Founder, and CEO of OYO Hotels & Homes,   a chain of leased and franchised hotels. He was born in 1993 Cuttack, India and brought up in Rayagada, Orissa.

In January 2018, Agarwal was included in the Forbes 30 under 30 list Asia in Consumer Tech and Fortune 40 under 40 for 2016; and one of the CNBC Turk of the Year in 2019.

Early years
Agarwal was born into a business family in Cuttack, Orissa. He completed his schooling from a school in Rayagada, Orissa and moved to Delhi in 2011 for graduation. Agarwal had an interest in business and dropped out of college in 2012 to start his own venture.

Career
Agarwal started a budget accommodation portal, Oravel Stays. It was accepted into the accelerator program by the VentureNursery in September 2012 and later was one of the winners of the 2013 Thiel Fellowship program and received a grant of $100,000. The company was launched as OYO Rooms in May 2013.

In March 2015, OYO raised $24 million and another $100 million in August 2015. By September 2018, the company raised $1 billion, which raised Agarwal’s net worth to 4,400 crore and made him one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the country with a net worth over $639 million.

In July 2019, Agarwal setup a new company RA Hospitality Holdings to make fresh investments in OYO Hotels & Homes.

Boards and memberships

 * Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Tourism & Hospitality
 * Chairman, CII National Committee on e-commerce

Awards and recognition

 * 2019- CNBC’s Young Turk of the Year
 * 2018- Forbes’s Tycoons of Tomorrow list
 * 2018- Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award- Services
 * 2018- Dataquest ICT Awards- IT Person of the Year
 * 2018- Best Entrepreneur- International Hospitality Council
 * 2017- Gaurav Samman by The Government of Haryana
 * 2016- Forbes 30 under 30 - Consumer Tech
 * 2016- Forbes 30 Under 30 - Asia - Consumer Technology
 * 2016- Fortune 40 under 40
 * 2016- The Economic Times 40 under 40
 * 2016- NDTV Dream Chaser of the Year

Books

 * Agarwal, Ritesh (2011). Indian Engineering Colleges : A Complete Encyclopaedia Of Top 100 Engineering Colleges. G. K. Publishers (P) Ltd. ISBN 978-8183554589.