OYO Hotels & Homes is making a push in Japan with a joint launch of its services alongside Yahoo Japan.
The newly minted OYO Technology & Hospitality Company, Japan will bring OYO’s housing rental product, OYO Living, to the country, rebranded as OYO Life.
To oversee the effort, the India-based company has hired Japanese entrepreneur Hiro Katsuse, formerly with Booking.com and Handy, as CEO.
The combined effort from OYO and Yahoo will leverage the former’s ability to transform and manage rental properties with latter’s marketing and distribution power.
OYO Life is designed to target students and young professionals with its affordable, fully managed housing rentals. Its accommodations, which include apartments, homes and shared spaces, include furniture, Wi-Fi, appliances, housekeeping and more.
For home owners, OYO is responsible for managing their properties and providing maintenance and upkeep. Home owners can also benefit from Yahoo’s marketing and distribution network to attract more customers.
“With the launch of OYO Life, we are all set to leverage OYO’s hospitality experience to offer a first-of-its-kind, end-to-end fully managed housing experience,” Katsuse says.
“I look forward to leveraging our partnership with Yahoo Japan and OYO's expertise from across the world to scale OYO Life, a product built in Japan for Japanese customers.”
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Kentaro Kawabe, CEO of Yahoo Japan, adds: “We are really happy to partner with OYO, through this joint venture and are certain that with a promise to deliver good quality fully managed homes at affordable prices.
“With our local know-how, online distribution network and marketing support, OYO Life will soon emerge as the most preferred abode for the Japanese citizens and visitors in the country.”
OYO Life operations will kick off in March, the company says.
OYO currently operates in more than 500 cities in 10 countries including India, China, Indonesia and the Philippines. The company says it has officially closed its $1 billion funding round, led by SoftBank Vision Fund, with the final $100 million contributed from Didi.