OYO Rooms founder Ritesh Agarwal in Forbes list of achievers

Ritesh Agarwal, the founder and CEO of OYO Rooms, is among the 45 Indians or Indian-origin people who have made it to Forbes’ annual list of achievers under the age of 30.

Forbes has termed Agarwal’s OYO Rooms as the Airbnb of India.

“In a country that lacks a steady supply of budget hotel chains, OYO has developed a network of 2,200 small hotels in 100 cities across India,” Forbes said.

Ritesh Agarwal of Oyo Rooms featured in the consumer tech segment.

“If you want to change the world, being under 30 is now an advantage,” Forbes said.

CHECK: Know more about Ritesh Agarwal

Born in Bissamcuttack, a village in Rayagada district of Odisha, Ritesh started coding software when he was eight years old.

At 16, Ritesh was among 240 children selected to be part of the Asian Science Camp held at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai.

When he was 17, Ritesh authored a best-selling book; The Encyclopaedia of Indian Engineering Colleges.

He became the youngest chief executive officer (CEO) in India at his 17. Of a company called Worth Growth Partners.

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A college dropout, who once wanted to sit for an engineering exam, Ritesh now heads among the most valuable start-up by a person who never studied beyond school.

He even sold sim cards to survive, afraid his well off family would end his entrepreneurial dreams and summon him back home to Odisha if they knew of his struggles.

In Kota, where he was ostensibly preparing for his IIT entrance exams, Ritesh says he couldn’t wait every weekend to slip out to Delhi and meet those doing their own thing.

At just 18, Ritesh set up Oraval Stays in 2011, a hotel rental startup, which is now Oyo Rooms in a new avataar.